Updated May 2025

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is a category of technology that creates new content in response to prompts. GenAI is a rapidly evolving area affecting university education. Artificial intelligence is built into more and more of our existing technology making it difficult to avoid and practically impossible to ban as a result.

  • Content can be in the form of text, image, audio, video and software code, depending on the tool.  
  • The content that is produced can be very difficult to distinguish from that produced by humans.  
  • Where human brains learn based on relatively few examples, these tools have been trained on massive data sets of human-created content.
  • GenAI tools, such as Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT, work by predicting what a human would produce in response to an input. 
See these additional resources for more information:
- University Library Research Guide: Artificial Intelligence: Understanding Generative AI
- Detailed information about GenAI technology in the LTE Toolkit
- Advice about security and privacy of AI tools and how the content submitted to AI may train those

GenAI and Academic Misconduct

Updated May 2025

Expectations for acceptable and unacceptable use are to be set out clearly by instructors as these expectations serve to define academic misconduct.

How the USask Academic Misconduct Regulations apply
Here are two relevant sections of the USask Academic Misconduct Regulations that may apply to academic misconduct involving GenAI use:

Unpermitted Assistance
= a student used a GenAI tool in a way that was not allowed.
  • See p. 6, point g (i)
    “failure to observe any stated rule with regard to the procedures used in an examination, assessment, or an activity undertaken for academic credit where such a failure could result in the student gaining relatively greater credit” 

Missing or inadequate attribution 
= a student included content or ideas originating with or derived from GenAI but did not acknowledge the source 
  • See p.7, point l
    “Adequate attribution is required. What is essential is that another person has no doubt which words or research results are the student’s, and which are drawn from other sources. Full explicit acknowledgment of the source of the material is required.” 
  • See p. 7, point l (ii)
    “The verbatim use of oral or written material without adequate attribution” 

Detection Tools: Not Approved

Updated May 2025
Tools to detect text or other outputs produced by GenAI are not reliable. False accusations can be devastating. No detection tool has been approved for use at the University of Saskatchewan. USask continues to monitor and assess detection strategies.

Research into detection tools has found problems with bias, false positives (accusing especially people writing in additional languages); false negatives (missed cases of GenAI use); and copyright concerns.

A study on 6 major detectors, their reliability, and strategies for eluding detection with findings published as follows:

“GenAI Detection Tools, Adversarial Techniques and Implications for Inclusivity in higher Education” by Perkins et al, March 2024 

Read this article about a study of 12 publicly available tools and 2 commercial systems:

Testing of Detection Tools for AI-Generated Text by Weber-Wulff et al, 2023

Read these articles about human capacity to detect GenAI

Commentary and suggestions:

It is a potential copyright violation to put the work of another person into a third-party tool without their permission. If you, as the instructor, do not acquire permission from each student for submitting their work to GenAI or plagiarism detectors, doing so could be a copyright infringement issue and/or a violation of the University’s Use of Materials Protected by Copyright Policy. 

Students are advised to report use of detection tools on their intellectual property to their appropriate Associate Dean. 

Advice for students

Updated May 2025

GenAI is a rapidly evolving area affecting university education. Instructors are learning about GenAI and thinking about how to respond to it, and include it. Students are responsible to maintain academic integrity, and this includes being knowledgeable about what GenAI use is allowed for assessments. Use the button below to learn about the USask AI Provisional Guidelines, and:

  1. Follow the rules laid out by each instructor. Usually these appear in the syllabus or instructions for assessments.    
  2. Recognize there will be differences in expectations between instructors and possibly between assessments in the same course. 
  3. Ask your instructor for clarification if no permissions or restrictions have been stated and if anything is unclear.
  4. Check out guidance available from the Library: Understanding Generative AI - Artificial Intelligence - Research Guides at University of Saskatchewan (usask.ca)
  5. Know what appropriate use of course materials includes – you should not put instructor or library or copyrighted materials into third party tools (like ChatGPT) or post them on external sites (like WhatsApp) without permission
  6. Report use of unapproved detection tools to the Associate Dean in the College of the course of instruction.

 

Using GenAI is a problem when the instructor has not given permission for the assessment in question. Here are five scenarios to share further examples to when there could be a problem:

 

Scenario 

What you should know 

1. 

When students need to learn and synthesize new ideas or information. 

To learn something new, you are going to have to do the reading and thinking yourself. 

2. 

When putting in the effort to learn is the point. 

To learn is to be challenged and to get feedback on your mistakes. 

3. 

When very high accuracy is required.

Errors in GenAI outputs will seem plausible and are therefore hard to spot unless you are already an expert (like an instructor is).

4. 

When GenAI is bad at things and guidance is lacking.

Inaccuracies and failures of GenAI are constantly evolving and being discovered in GenAI outputs.  

5. 

When you do not understand that GenAI is persuasive and not concerned with accuracy.

GenAI will try to persuade you that it is right when it is wrong.

GenAI will try to persuade you that YOU are right, when YOU are wrong. 

Advice for instructors

Updated May 2025

It is essential that instructors become familiar enough with GenAI to be able to explain what is and is not acceptable use, and to provide good teaching and learning rationale to students.

Students are experiencing uncertainty and complexity, too. They have a wide range of views, as do faculty. Students will ask you to provide GenAI use expectations for assessments. Your stated expectations will define academic misconduct when it comes to GenAI use in your course.

Learn about GenAI technology as teaching tools, like Microsoft Copilot (USask LTE Toolkit)

Try Copilot (PAWS login required)

Check out this series of articles which aims to assist educators understand the world of GenAI and will offer suggestions on how to bring it into their learning environments, answering the question: AI exists, now what?

  1. AI is Here and You Can ACE It 
  2. AI and Academic Integrity: How are students using AI and how do we clarify expectations? 
  3. Being Transparent With AI Use: How To Cite, Disclose, and Document 
  4. Designing Assessments that Leverage AI 
  5. AI and Authentic Assessments: Preparing Students for an AI-Enabled World 
*Click to read the first article, and at the end it will lead you to the next in the series!

  1. Provide clear expectations.
  2. Explain your learning and integrity-related reasons for setting GenAI permissions or restrictions. 
  3. Provide a citation or acknowledgement format that supports transparent use. 
  4. Consider how assessments can be updated to reflect new GenAI uses and applications.
  5. Do not enter students’ assessments into third party tools, including in attempt to identify academic misconduct.

It is important to explore strategies for modifying assessment tasks.

Explore this resource: AI Assessment Scale (AIAS) – Resources and information for the AI Assessment Scale (AIAS)

The following table is derived from this article by Jason Lodge, University of Queensland. It points out that to ignore or ban use is not viable and suggests invigilation is appropriate in some cases, and that the most viable options are to design GenAI “in” and to rethink assessments more fundamentally.

chart of the approaches and efforts required on course assessment with AI

The following are 5 common misconceptions to be aware of before you make decisions on assessment tasks or security strategies.

Misconception 

Reality in November 2024 
1. Gen AI is detectable 

It is difficult to identify Gen AI-created content. By installing a ‘humanise’ plugin or writing the appropriate prompt, GenAI content can be virtually undetectable by detection software.
2. Self-reflections cannot be written by GenAI  

GenAI can write convincing self-reflections, including referencing course content or real-life case studies. A person just needs to prompt the tool to do so.
3. GenAI cannot complete course-specific assessments 

Course materials can be uploaded to many GenAI tools, and used to generate a report, conduct analysis or produce a personal self-reflection.  Yes, uploading some materials may be a violation of copyright or intellectual property.

4. GenAI “hallucinates” 

GenAI tools are improving, and fabricated information is not as common as it was in earlier versions. There are GenAI tools available that are trained on peer-reviewed publications and can produce accurate citations and references.
5. GenAI is only capable of producing written works

GenAI does more than produce words and code. There are tools that produce multimedia, such as videos, animations and podcasts, in response to student prompts.

Source: Australian Government, November 2024, p. 44 

https://www.teqsa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-11/Gen-AI-strategies-emerging-practice-toolkit.pdf 

For further advice, see this website for the Students page and the section About GenAI.

In Fall 2024, USask shared Principles and Guidelines on the use of AI by research, students, faculty and support services. These are practical guidelines created for each group, along with resources and support for their implementation.

Syllabus and expectations

Updated May 2025

Focus on uses of GenAI, rather than GenAI itself.  

It no longer makes sense to state expectations to be “NO GENAI USE” because the technology is now embedded in both new and pre-existing tools and increasingly difficult to avoid.   

Students need you to present your GenAI use expectations clearly and want to know the rationale.   

Key questions for instructors are:   

  • What are the conditions under which you want the assessment completed? 
  • What makes that essential? 
  • How does this expectation serve student learning and assessment?

Updated May 2025
Pre-existing and new tools have AI technologies embedded in them. It is not so simple as saying: “No ChatGPT” or “No GenAI”. 

Recommendation: Be specific for each assessment and focus on ways students can and cannot use the technologies or tools, rather than banning GenAI as a blanket statement.

The following are sample statements about uses:

  • It is academic misconduct on an assessment if a student uses generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technologies or tools in ways that are not permitted for that assessment. Refer to detailed instructions for each assessment for these expectations.   
  • Sample assessment-specific statements (adapt to purpose)
    • About unacceptable use:
      • It is academic misconduct on this assessment if student work in whole or in part is generated by generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technology or tools.
      • It is academic misconduct on this assessment if student work is altered in the following ways [be specific, refer to link for examples] by generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technology or tools.
    • About acceptable use:
      • Students may use GenAI technology or tools to edit content, including making changes that improve the clarity of writing and change wording or structure.
      • Students may use GenAI technology or tools to advise on approach including suggesting processes, offering solutions, or identifying best practice.
      • Students may use GenAI technology or tools to format, including generating a template or structure that match specifications.
      • Students may use GenAI technology or tools to get ideas, including suggesting topics, options, ways of doing things.
      • Students may use GenAI technology or tools to plan, including sequencing actions or steps or content with respect to certain criteria.
      • Students may use GenAI technology or tools to summarize, including identifying key points in a condensed form.
  • Where disclosure of GenAI use is required, provide guidance or a template to students. Where citation of GenAI content is required, provide a citation protocol.  USask Library Guide:  Citing Your Use of GenAI. 

Updated May 2025

Syllabus statements with respect to academic integrity should make the types of use that are acceptable and unacceptable clear and provide a supporting rationale. Helping students to see why a restriction or a use supports their learning is an essential academic integrity strategy.

Sample syllabus statements

Sample supporting rationale

[When only specific GenAI use is acceptable]

Some limited and specific use(s) of GenAI is acceptable in this assessment.  Any unacceptable use(s) will constitute academic misconduct.  See the following list of acceptable and unacceptable use [insert your specific examples]” 

As your instructor, I want to assess what you can do only with specific use of GenAI and other similar forms assistance.  I have permitted some uses and restricted other uses to support your learning. If you use GenAI beyond the acceptable uses: 

  • you will not get the practice you need;  
  • the feedback you get will not be meaningful;  
  • your grade will not reflect what you can do within the expectations; and  
  • it will not be fair. 
Sample uses with supporting rationale
  • Generate ideas
 For the purposes of planning content multiple resources exist. You may use web searches, course materials, library resources, instructors, qualified peers and GenAI to support your process.
  • Identify relevant information to further research
  • Improve format of what student has produced
 For the purposes of finalizing content multiple resources exist. You may use software, library resources, instructors, qualified peers, and GenAI to support your writing process.
  • Support final edits

Sample syllabus statement

Sample supporting rationale

[When GenAI use is acceptable with acknowledgement]

Use of GenAI is acceptable for this course/assessment and will not constitute academic misconduct when appropriately acknowledged.

 As your instructor, I want to assess what you can do including when you have access to and use GenAI.

[When use of GenAI is required as part of a learning outcome]

Use of GenAI is required for this course/assessment and will not constitute academic misconduct.

 As your instructor, I want to assess your ability to use GenAI according to specific criteria.

Students presenting work as though it is their own when it is not, is considered academic misconduct in most (if not all) situations.    

However, there are ways to use GenAI that could be acceptable (or acceptable to an extent) for an assessment and therefore consistent with academic integrity.    

It helps to think about what makes an assessment aligned to your learning outcomes and to think about the kinds of assistance that you would permit or even encourage and whether these are similar to some uses of GenAI. See examples uses of GenAI (this page).

The following table compares GenAI use to familiar forms of assistance and when these could be academic misconduct. 

Types of improvements to student work  GenAI could be prompted to:  How similar is this to help from the instructor and/or:  This could be academic misconduct for an assessment if: 
Edit Make changes that improve the clarity of writing by proofreading and changing wording or structure Working with a peer reviewer, TA, a friend with experience, a library service Capacity for unassisted, independent writing essential
Advise Suggest processes, offer solutions, identify best practices Reading a book, article, website; viewing a you tube video; asking a classmate, TA, a friend with experience  Relying only on instructions provided in-class is essential 
Format  Structure something according to specifications  Referring to an example or template that follows the same criteria Capacity for unassisted, independent formating or structuring is essential
Ideas Suggest topics, options, or ways of doing things as in brainstorming Searching for examples, discussing with classmates or people working in the field Generating ideas free of influence is essential
Plan Sequence actions or steps or content with respect to certain criteria Searching for models, samples, outlines that align to the criteria Articulating a correct or viable plan unassisted, independently, based only on course materials is essential 
Summarize  Identify key points in a condensed form and preserve meaning of an input or resource Reading a review, abstract, on-line summary; listening to a podcast; watching a video created by humans    Comprehension without referring to summaries is essential

 

For those concerned about students inputting course or other materials, refer to Artificial Intelligence Tools: Submitting Content (USask ICT) for advice about security and privacy of AI tools and how the content submitted to AI tools may be used to train those tools.   

To set clear expectations:

  • Explain what the purpose is of the materials you have provided them (slides, etc.) 
  • Identify that Microsoft's Copilot in protected mode, is a tool that has built-in protections which keep a computer's IP address and any copyright information from being shared outside the University.
  • Explain how posting or using materials at third party sites compromises the IP and copyright, and how placing other people’s work on public forums for use by these third parties, compromises copyright and intellectual property.
  • Explain that students also have an IP and should opt to use tools that protect their knowledge and creativity from unknown or uncertain uses, making Copilot a good tool to use.

Example uses of GenAI

The uses of GenAI are changing and expanding rapidly. Consider these (overlapping) categories of use.

  • Answer iterative questions about a topic, like a tutor might, or like could be available by asking questions in class or attending office hours.
  • Generate examples of something that was explained in class.
  • Create practice questions based on course materials.
  • Identify errors in student work and provide corrective feedback.
  • Outline steps to solve certain kinds of problems.
  • Recommend approaches for conducting research. 
  • Identify strategies that could work for an example problem or context.
  • Create a glossary of terms for learning materials.
  • Simulate an interview with a specific person, character or persona.

  • Proofread a draft for certain kinds of errors or issues.
  • Rewrite a student paragraph in a different tone.
  • Find ways to restate or vary word choice.
  • Rewrite a student draft for improved grammar, verb tense.
  • Assemble drafted content into a more cohesive whole.
  • Improve a thesis statement or research question.
  • Rewrite a draft to change word count.
  • Correct and improve code, graphic representations, audio, video, slides according to student inputted criteria.

  • Classify or summarize content. 
  • Transform large data set. 
  • Generate a case study, piece of art, concept map, thematic representation, figure 
  • Design an experiment or process. 
  • Curate content to represent a theme or an argument. 
  • Produce an analysis of data for patterns, properties, interactions. 
  • Generate code for a standard or novel problem. 
  • Change a text-based story into a visual, or vice versa. 
  • Redesign something to new specs. 
  • Translate from one language into another.

Disclosing use

As GenAI use becomes more and more common, standardized formats for citation and acknowledgement are becoming available for textual and non-textual outputs. 

Instructors may ask students to attest to their non-use of GenAI, or to describe their use of in sufficient detail. Standard templates or formats for acknowledging GenAI use, or non-use, may be used. These should be consistent with and specific to the assessment in question.

As GenAI use becomes more and more common, standardized formats for citation and acknowledgement are becoming available for textual and non-textual outputs. 

  • Student name, assessment title, date of submission, relevant course details.
  • Signature line or equivalent where a student formally verifies their agreement with the statement.
  • Example standard statement: “I understand that as I student, I am responsible to become knowledgeable about academic integrity practices expected of me in my courses and this includes and is not limited to following expectations for GenAI use outlined by my instructor in this course”  

Purpose: To have a student formally confirm that they have not used GenAI in the ways an instructor has said are not permitted on an assessment.

Since GenAI is built into many everyday software, apps and tools now, the language of a “total ban” is not recommended. Instead name specific use restrictions. Example statements: 
  • "I confirm that I have not used any GenAI tools or technologies to generate the content of this assessment." 
  • "I confirm that I have not used any GenAI tools or technologies to produce or edit the [text/image/code/video/visuals] included in this assessment."

Purpose: To have a student (1) describe their permitted use in a way the instructor finds sufficient, and,  (2) formally confirm that they have not used GenAI in the ways an instructor has said are not permitted on an assessment. 

Example statements are listed below and may begin with a stem such as this: “I acknowledge specific uses of GenAI to produce this assessment and… ". 


Example statement format  Example of additional process description  
To create an outline: 
…I acknowledge the use of [tool(s)] to generate an outline for an assignment as permitted by the instructor. 		 I entered the following prompt(s) [insert] and limited my use of the output to assist me to plan my assignment.  The ideas and text used are cited appropriately where they are not uniquely my own.   
To start a research process: 
…I acknowledge the use of [tool(s)] to brainstorm topics for an assessment as permitted by the instructor. 		 I entered the following prompt(s) [insert] and used the output as a starting point for topic ideas/research directions. 
To edit: 
…I acknowledge the use of [tool(s)] to edit and format the final product for this assessment as permitted by the instructor.  		 I entered the following draft [insert link to document(s)] and entered the following prompt(s) to produce an improved draft which I then reviewed and made final modifications before submitting.   
To complete a task: 
…I acknowledge the use of [tool(s)] to complete the requirement as assigned by the instructor. 		 I entered the following prompt(s) [insert] and used the output in order to [insert assessment task].

Request a new GenAI tool

GenAI is an area experiencing rapid growth and numerous new tools customized to perform specialized functions are emerging frequently. If you are interested in using GenAI tools for teaching and learning at USask, first, please check the A-Z Tool List on the LTE Toolkit website to see whether the tool you are interested in has already been approved for use, not approved, or is currently under review.

Support

Advice and Guidance

Academic Integrity - Academic Integrity Strategist, Susan Bens  

Teaching with GenAI - Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning  

Copyright information - Copyright Coordinator 

Privacy information - Legal Counsel, Access and Privacy Officer, Rayelle Johnston