Imagine this.

I open a Unit 3 Assignment from a student who has not been in class for the majority of the semester. His first Unit Assignment had a half-page resume, no cover letter and a “justification memo” that detailed his journey through weightlifting. So, you can imagine my surprise when I open his assignment to the best report I have ever seen. Constructing sentences such as “The financial pages of the report read like a score, with each note harmonizing to reassure stakeholders and maintain the reliability and goodwill Apple has meticulously cultivated over the years.”

Is he secretly poetic? Is he just really passionate about Apple’s goodwill? Did he suddenly become motivated in the last three weeks to write an extremely well-versed report?

I doubt all of these.

What I don’t doubt, was a case of AI usage. Not only were the word choices complicated and whimsical, but the report was not specific to the assignment. Even though it was well written, it was clearly not following the guidelines we set out together in class. However, safe assign reads 0%, so what do I do?

I had a tough time figuring it out. I could give a 0, it is rightfully deserved as the report strays far from anything we talked about in class. I know it’s not his writing, but I can’t necessarily prove it.

After pondering about this, I ask him to be honest with me. And that is where I believe I made the right choice.

He admitted to his AI usage, but his excuse really hit home for me and allowed me to have an open discussion with him.

“I just don’t think my writing is good enough to write this report”.

He may be lying and just perhaps felt lazy, but I felt his excuse was genuine. He just did not understand the assignment enough to write the report. And while I could have gotten on his case about not coming to see me in office hours previously, I know how hard it is to admit you feel lost.

We had a productive conversation and we agreed he would rewrite it. I put it simply for him: I would rather have his “worst” work that’s written by him than a fantastic report written by AI.

I don’t think students feel welcomed enough to ask questions. To me, students’ reliance on AI comes from their ideas that they need to understand everything being said to them by their professors. When they don’t understand, they become embarrassed and do everything to avoid admitting they are lost.

I support the use of AI for certain things, and I support it being implemented in the classroom. This is an instance that made me want to conduct an experiment of AI for next semester in the classroom. That way, students will be able to see their “worst” work is still better than a report AI can produce for them.

This also comes down to building confidence in students. I believe that we need to have these open, honest discussions with students consistently in the classroom to have them avoid feeling intimidated by us. Because, “Having these conversations in an educational space with a figure they trust, such as a caring and non-judgmental instructor, is essential to making thoughtful decisions related to academic integrity.” (Frazier&Hensley 3)

 I could have easily punished this student by handing him a 0. I could go throughout my class saying absolutely no AI and that there will be severe consequences if it is used. But that’s not effective in my opinion.

Showing students that their work is good enough is important. Welcoming them to office hours and explaining what they’re doing right and wrong is important. Allowing resubmits and working with students is important. Sure, there are always students that are going to take advantage or just be lazy, but I like to believe a lot of AI usage comes from fear of bad grades.

So tell your students they don’t need to be embarrassed about their work, and show them why AI is not always the most useful tool.

Work Cited

Frazier, Mike, and Lauren Hensley. “Home.” The WAC Clearinghouse, wac.colostate.edu/repository/collections/textgened/ethical-considerations/promoting-ethical-artificial-intelligence-literacy/. Accessed 28 Nov. 2023.