Syllabus briefings: three ready-to-use AI paragraphs

Three syllabus paragraphs at different permissiveness levels, each designed to drop into a syllabus with minimal modification. Choose the one that matches your course’s goals, or adapt it. Whatever you choose, state it explicitly: students respond to clear, specific policies far better than to silence or vague warnings.

These correspond to the policy spectrum discussed in Parts II and III of Learning with AI.

Restrictive

AI policy. For this course, generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini) may not be used to produce work you submit for credit, including drafts, code, solutions, or written answers, unless an assignment states otherwise in writing. You are welcome to use AI to study, by asking questions, reviewing concepts, or generating practice problems, but the work you submit must be your own, written without AI assistance. If you are unsure whether a particular use is allowed, ask before using it. The reason for this policy is that several skills this course builds are formed only by doing the work yourself, and AI-produced work can look finished while leaving those skills unformed. When in doubt, make your own attempt first and bring your questions to office hours.

Default

AI policy. Generative AI tools may be used in this course as a support for your learning, not as a substitute for it. You may use AI to clarify concepts, get hints, check your work, and stress-test your own ideas, provided you make your own first attempt and can explain everything you submit in your own words. AI may not write your final answers, essays, or code for you. When AI plays a meaningful role in an assignment, include a brief disclosure stating what tool you used, what it contributed, and how you verified the result. I may ask you to explain your work or to share the AI conversation that produced it. Assignment instructions may tighten or loosen this default; when they do, the assignment takes precedence. If you are unsure whether a use is appropriate, ask.

Permissive

AI policy. You are encouraged to use generative AI tools in this course as collaborators in your work, including for drafting, coding, analysis, and revision, as long as you remain the author and can stand behind everything you submit. With that freedom comes responsibility. You must verify AI output, since claims, sources, data, and code are often confidently wrong. You must be able to explain and defend your work without the tool. And you must disclose how AI was used on each assignment. Submitting AI output you cannot explain, or presenting it as unaided work, is not permitted. Protect private and restricted information when using these tools, and I may ask you to share the AI conversation behind your work. The aim is for you to learn to do excellent work with these tools, which is itself a skill this course is helping you build.