Many instructors are seeking guidance as to whether or not GenAI technology should be integrated into their courses. The existing GenAI policy within LSA is that instructors decide whether or not it is appropriate to incorporate Gen AI in teaching and learning. This decision aligns with the broader university policy of academic freedom, allowing instructors to determine both the content and method of their teaching. While in alignment with the  values of the college, the responsibility for determining whether GenAI has the potential to enrich or harm learning in your course can feel daunting. To support the thoughtful consideration of potential course-level GenAI policy, U-M has put forth three key considerations: 

• The appropriate use of AI
• The necessity of AI
• The Pros and Cons of AI

Appropriate use of AI

The key question instructors must wrestle with is whether GenAI serves or undermines their course learning objectives. As you work to answer this question, consider the relevance of GenAI to the discipline, its alignment with your course objectives, and its potential impact on essential skill development. 

Whether or not GenAI serves learning will vary depending on the discipline. Some instructors have realized that GenAI has already impacted industry standard work and have created new course learning objectives to prepare students to use GenAI effectively in their disciplines. 

Other disciplines have made course level modifications aimed at protecting disciplinary skills from the impact of GenAI technology. An example of this is in writing disciplines. At this time, the Sweetland Center for Writing has determined that “while GenAI can produce generic writing samples, we are far from the point where writing will be replaced by these tools. Therefore disciplines that rely on written communication must make sure that any use of AI does not err on the side of overreliance on the tool or else students will leave their programs ill prepared.”

You can use the following questions to anticipate the potential impact of GenAI in your course:

• Is using a GenAI-based tool helping my students to learn more and think better?
• Is using a GenAI-based tool enabling or hindering my students' mastery of the stated course objectives?
• Is the content I ask students to generate accurate and verifiable? Is it free of biases that might harm other groups or society?
• How will I treat content that might have been generated using a GenAI-based tool?

Necessity of AI

To determine the necessity of AI in your course, ask yourself if GenAI can be used to meet your course objectives. If the answer is yes, this may be an opportunity to create a GenAI-informed assignment–an assignment that should include some parts that cannot be completed satisfactorily (solely) by GenAI tools. You may decide that GenAI is unnecessary for some tasks but a valuable tool for others. Strategies for creating GenAI-informed assignments can be found at the Course and Assignment (Re-)Design page of the U-M GenAI site.  

Another key consideration when determining the necessity of GenAI is whether the availability of GenAI to students in the course presents barriers with respect to equity, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility. It is important to determine whether the presence of GenAI promotes or threatens fairness and inclusion? At U-M, we have access to U-M GPT, which supports the equitable use of GenAI in courses, but if you require students to use a different tool, be sure you evaluate its security and accessibility carefully beforehand.

Pros and Cons of AI

Instructors must also weigh the benefits of using GenAI against the risks. One of the primary concerns in incorporating GenAI into educational settings are the ethical implications. Use of GenAI raises concerns about data security, the potential for bias and hallucinations (generation of inaccurate or misleading information by AI), concerns surrounding copyright and intellectual property, human labor considerations, and the environmental impact of AI. 

Student use of GenAI also raises ethical concerns about academic integrity. A potential risk of GenAI integration is students becoming overly reliant on the technology. The line between leveraging AI to support learning and using it as a substitute for one's own intellectual efforts can be difficult for students to discern. Therefore, instructors who choose to leverage GenAI as a learning tool will need to make time in their lesson plan to teach students to use GenAI responsibly to enhance their learning, not detract from the development of essential skills.

While there are legitimate concerns surrounding use of GenAI in the classroom, there are potential benefits to learning as well. In an AI-augmented world, instructors have the opportunity to help students develop a critical approach to using AI tools, ensuring they understand how to responsibly interact with these technologies both inside and outside the classroom. GenAI tools also have the potential to personalize learning for students, giving them the opportunity to create their own practice problems to study for an upcoming assessment, or to use GenAI image generators for creative projects to name just two potential use cases. 

Course Policies on AI Use

After carefully considering the role of GenAI technology in your course, it is important to establish a GenAI policy. Given the inevitable variation in course policies, it is essential to clearly outline GenAI guidelines in your syllabus to reduce confusion around permissible use of GenAI and ensure that students understand course level expectations. When it comes to incorporating AI into course policies, there are generally three approaches:

1. Encouraging Specific Uses: Instructors may encourage the use of AI for specific tasks that enhance learning. Clearly defining these tasks helps students understand how to use AI productively without becoming overly reliant on it.

2. Monitoring and Reflecting on AI Use: Instructors may allow AI use but require students to reflect on how they used the tool and provide evidence of their interactions with it. This approach ensures that students remain engaged with the learning process and understand the role AI played in their work.

3. Prohibiting AI Use: Some instructors may choose to prohibit AI use altogether, considering its use as a violation of academic integrity. Clear communication in the syllabus about this policy is essential to prevent misunderstandings.

Example syllabi statements that represent each of the three approaches can be found on the Course Policies and Syllabi Statements page of the U-M GenAI site. 

Communicating with Students

Whatever policy you decide on, it is essential to communicate your rationale behind using or not using GenAI with your students. In courses where GenAI technology is prohibited, instructors should be prepared to explain the value of spending time and effort to learn course skills without assistance from GenAI. Alternatively, in courses where an instructor is excited by the potential for the technology to enhance learning, students will need guidance from the instructor to understand and evaluate current AI capabilities and limitations to ensure responsible use of AI generated output. 

If you would like to speak with someone about your specific course and decisions, please schedule a consultation with the LSA Learning and Teaching Consultants. We will be glad to help!