The AI in Classes Experiment - Current Status

Why? This helps normalize the habit of adding disclosures and thinking critically about AI’s role when you do use it. While this level of disclosure may not always be necessary in the "real world" outside of class - it’s important in an academic setting where we’re navigating ethical considerations and building professional habits.
Examples are below in purple!

2) My AI Policy (In Plain Terms):

You may use AI on ANY assignment, but ONLY with active transparency.

- If you use any AI tool (e.g., ChatGPT, Grammarly), you must disclose:
  - When: At what point(s) in your process you used AI.
  - Where/What: Which AI tool you used and for what purpose.
  - How: How the AI tool contributed to your work.

There is no penalty for using AI unless:

- The assignment specifies that AI use is prohibited (this is rare).
- You use AI without disclosure or reflection.

3) What Active Transparency Looks Like:

Get Consent: Before you use AI in a group project or breakout room, make sure everyone's on board. Respect different viewpoints and make sure no one feels left out. Using AI without the group’s consent can break trust and harm your reputation as a collaborative and ethical leader.

Cite or Reflect: When not in a team or when turning in your work - briefly explain how and when you used AI. You can include this in your assignment via...

- A reflective comment.
- A citation or footnote indicating how and when AI was used.

Example - Actively Transparent AI Disclosures:

ChatGPT was used to refine/reduce words after my initial independent brainstorming and drafting. All information provided by AI was fact-checked by the author, and references investigated. Final editing was completed independently.
This document was created using personal knowledge, independent research and course material review. AI tools were used to check grammar (Grammarly), improve readability, and generate this AI disclosure (ChatGPT), and their contributions were reviewed and verified by to ensure accuracy and reflection of my original perspective.

Example - No AI used Disclosure:

No AI was used in any steps of the work for this assignment, excepting built-in spelling and grammar checking on [your tool which uses integrated tools would go here] where this [document/presentation/etc.] was finalized.

4) Why This Matters (My Hope):

My goal is to help us learn together:

- When AI is helpful.
- How to use it ethically.
- When AI is useless—or even harmful.

As leadership students, you may find it valuable to critique how well AI supported your work (e.g., where it helped vs. where it fell short). This insight will prepare you for leading and participating with real-world applications.

5) Possible Penalties for Improper Use (Let’s Avoid This):

If you simply reproduce AI-generated content without citation, reflection, or critique, I reserve the right to:

- Assign zero points for that portion of the assignment.
- Apply penalties for unreflective reuse of AI-generated material.

6) AI Detection Tools:

Note: Your written work may be checked using AI-detection tools. These tools help predict if content was created by a generative AI/large-language model like ChatGPT.

7) My Pledge to You:

I will approach grading with fairness and transparency.

If there are concerns about AI use, we will have an opportunity to discuss it. My goal is to support your learning, not create stress over the origins of your work.

Questions?

If any part of this policy is unclear, please reach out before submitting your work. Let’s make this a semester of exploration, learning, and ethical AI use!

2.1) The 'official words' version of the policy above:

Related University resources can be found here: Artificial Intelligence in Teaching and Learning

In this course you are welcome and expected to use generative artificial intelligence/large language model tools, e.g. ChatGPT, Dall-e, Bard, Perplexity. Using these tools aligns with my teaching goal of training leaders for our current and future society.

Be aware that many AI companies collect information; do not enter confidential information as part of a prompt. LLMs may make up or hallucinate information. These tools may reflect misconceptions and biases of the data they were trained on and the human-written prompts used to steer them.
You are responsible for checking facts, finding reliable sources for, and making a careful, critical examination of any work that you submit.
Your use of AI tools or content must be acknowledged or cited with active and full transparency. If you do not acknowledge or cite your use of an AI tool, what you submit will likely be considered cheating or plagiarism. Again, when any AI-generated content is paraphrased, quoted, or incorporated into work, it should be cited; this includes AI-generated visuals or other media. If the AI tool makes its interactions shareable, you should include a link or URL to the original prompt.

Important Caveat: Be aware that other classes will have different policies and some may forbid AI use altogether! When prohibited or not in compliance with a course's policy, usage could result in violations of the Honor Code and have actional consequences at the class, college, or University level.

So, you're ready to use AI? Then you need to:

Practice Self-Leadership:

Start by asking yourself :

Will using AI prevent me from learning what I am here to learn??
What are the other risks of me, as a student in this class, using it?

🔖You can also use this list to think it through + guide checking your AIs work when you use it!

Why this matters:

You’re investing time and money in these courses to develop skills and knowledge. If AI shortcuts that process, you risk missing out on the learning outcomes you’re paying to achieve.

The greater the involvement of AI in your work—especially in critical thinking tasks—the greater the risks:

Critical Reasoning: Tasks requiring you to evaluate quality vs. junk content rely on your knowledge base and critical thinking skills.
Knowledge Gaps: In areas where your knowledge is still developing, use AI cautiously or consult your professor or an expert. This ensures a strong foundation while avoiding errors or misconceptions.

Ethical AI Use = Leadership Integrity

Ethical AI use isn’t just about avoiding penalties—it’s about building trust and showing integrity. These habits:

Protect your reputation (which is the only real currency a leader has).
Strengthen your ability to lead authentically.
Prepare you to participate effectively in a world increasingly shaped by technology.

By using AI responsibly, you reinforce your role as a self-led learner and future leader.

And Keep (or develop) Your Voice:

In leadership over the past decade+, there has been a continual push for more transparent, authentic leaders. These leaders are often most distinguishable and prized for their 'voice'. Great leaders are often prized for their ability to help others see and share in a goal while illuminating the path to achieve it. Their words feel real and alive, sparking connection and shared purpose.

AI tools, while helpful in some respects, struggle to create this kind of authenticity. Their outputs often lack the emotional resonance and originality needed to inspire and unite people around a vision. I encourage you not to surrender your voice to save time or effort.

Why This Matters:

Your Voice Is Your Value: Leadership is about more than completing tasks—it’s about engaging others and bringing your ideas to life. Your words should reflect who you are and what you believe, not just what an AI generates.
AI’s Limits: AI tools like ChatGPT or Bard are trained on vast amounts of text from the internet, which includes:
- Incorrect or outdated information.
- Generic, uninspired, or overly polished content.
- Formulaic, "voice-of-the-committee" writing that lacks individuality.
- All the biases that are out there. Eek.

Excerpt from Prof. Loewe of St. Edward's University's Policy for Ethical Use of Generative AI Technologies... (Loewe, 2023) "...Maybe GAIs will give you a useful suggestion, organizational idea, or other help, but their outputs, especially in well-established genres, are often bland pabulum—or worse. GAIs such as Chat GPT and Bard are trained on text found online. You already know from using the Internet that much of what appears online is wrong, banal, or generated by copycats; is glib brand-building fluff, clickbait trash, or political hype; or is written in a voice-of-the-committee style. As a result of the training data, some GAI output is like an OK-looking but ultimately unsatisfying (or even slightly gross) gumbo made from mystery ingredients. GAIs are interesting tools that can help you improve your writing in some ways, but you retain both the privileges and the responsibilities of a human being who can make choices in using words..."

The Leadership Takeaway:

AI can be a useful tool, but you are the leader—you have the privilege and responsibility to shape your words and ideas into something uniquely your own. Authenticity is the cornerstone of trust and connection, so use AI to support your work, not define it.

Why AI at all?? Because it's an emerging skill.

Learning to use AI is an emerging skill, and those who develop competencies in this skill will likely be sought out over those who do not for future employment (particularly those with 'prompt engineering skills'; Visé & Klar, 2023).

If you want to know more including Ideal Class Uses, Limits, Ethics, links to types of GAI for different uses, etc., you can explore Pt. 1 of this experiment, here: https://www.brandyabrown.com/posts/the-ai-in-classes-experiment-pt-1-fall-2023

We’ll also explore and discuss AI usage together in class, so stay curious and engaged as we navigate this exciting (and sometimes tricky) toolset!

Acknowledgements + AI Disclosure

In this latest round of this experiment, I did use GAI to REFINE this page from my prior versions (those can be accessed via the subpages on this site) - I am wordy by nature and trade and often benefit from that kind of extra editor to be more clear + concise. The original content and intent are my own, though ChatGPT served as an editor for me on December 17, 2024.

Ethics in Practice:

This page draws on resources shared by other educators working collaboratively to adapt to AI in the classroom. I gratefully acknowledge their contributions and welcome others to adapt and build on my work in a similar spirit. For example: Here is an ideal list of what to consider for ethics that I use to refine/guide these conversations.

Eaton, L. (Ed.). (n.d.). Classroom policies for AI Generative Tools. Crowd-Sourced Classroom Policies for AI Generative Tools. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RMVwzjc1o0Mi8Blw_-JUTcXv02b2WRH86vw7mi16W3U/edit?fbclid=IwAR1J1sSmlMv6YStCrn25JJINaEHcCHWbz9Trm1Vw-ot-xOf1tNIRjrvI70M

References

Loewe, D. M. (2023, July 15). Policy for ethical use of Generative AI Technologies. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1onwUP12kIqcU2-s-xjEMY-UJ4cWf-8xApCE3gxTcQB0/edit

McAdoo, T. (2023, April 7). How to cite chatgpt. American Psychological Association. https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt

Our Leadership Oriented Required Practice: Instead of linking to ChatGPT generically, use OpenAI’s new shareable prompt feature for more transparent citations (e.g., Example Shared Prompt). You should include an AI Disclosure section narrating the how, why, and what of their GAI usage. You can just ask your AI of choice to help you generate it!

Visé, D. de, & Klar, R. (2023, April 18). Nine in 10 companies want employees with Chatgpt Skills. The Hill. https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3955384-ai-employees-companies-chatgpt-skills/

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