The Student Compact

The five-part compact from Part I of Learning with AI, in a form you can print, post, or sign.

Some courses adopt it as an agreement between student and instructor. Others hand it out as a reminder, or put it at the top of a syllabus. It is MIT-licensed: adapt the wording to your course.

The compact

Attempt

Try the task before asking AI to do anything important.

Use

Ask AI for support that keeps you active.

Verify

Check important claims, sources, computations, and interpretations.

Disclose

State how AI was used when the assignment requires it.

Own

Submit only work you can explain and defend.

One-page printable version

Copy the block below onto a single page. It is sized to print on US Letter or A4 with room for the signature line.

                          THE STUDENT COMPACT
             for coursework in the presence of AI


  ATTEMPT    Try the task before asking AI to do anything important.

  USE        Ask AI for support that keeps you active.

  VERIFY     Check important claims, sources, computations,
             and interpretations.

  DISCLOSE   State how AI was used when the assignment requires it.

  OWN        Submit only work you can explain and defend.


  Different courses apply this compact differently. A course may ban
  AI on an exam, allow it for practice, require it for a critique
  assignment, or ask you to compare your answer with an AI answer.

  The exact rule belongs to the course.
  The responsibility belongs to you.


  Course: ______________________________  Term: ________________


  Student: ____________________________   Date: ________________


  Instructor: __________________________  Date: ________________

Notes for instructors

A signature is optional and it is not a compliance device. Its value is that it makes the expectation explicit at the start of the term, before the first assignment, rather than after the first problem. If a signature would set the wrong tone in your course, hand the compact out unsigned.

Say which rule applies to your course. The compact states the student’s responsibility; it does not state your AI policy. Pair it with a syllabus paragraph (../../instructors/briefings.md has three ready to adapt: restrictive, default, permissive).

Keep the “Own” line last. It is the one that carries the others. A student who can explain and defend the work has usually done the attempting, the verifying, and the owning already.

From Learning with AI: A Framework for Students, Instructors, and Universities (Part I). Repository materials are MIT-licensed.