AI | Artificial Intelligence: Using AI Responsibly

Academic integrity embodies honesty, ethics, and respect in academic settings. It includes giving credit to the ideas and research of others, never presenting someone else's work as your own, and consistently acknowledging the sources of information you use.  At Whitireia / WelTec this means we want to hear your ideas and your voice in the assessments you complete. However, anything we learn is based around the mahi (work) people have done before us.  We need to whakapapa knowledge (in this context: know the origin of thoughts and ideas) and show mana (in this context: show respect by acknowledging sources).

As part of your learning we want to help you understand the ethical and effective use of AI. Using someone else's ideas or words and presenting them as your own is considered academic misconduct, often referred to as plagiarism. It is important that you understand:

1. Your responsibilities as ākonga and kaimahi at Whitireia /WelTec
2. How to manage your AI research responsibilities
3. What is plagiarism?
4. How to avoid academic misconduct 
5. When is it okay to use AI and when is it not- See AI Quick Tool Guide
6. How to evaluate the information- Apply the C.R.A.A.P. Test

Source: Adapted from Ara Academic Integrity and AI Guide

Whitireia / WelTec ākonga (learner) responsibilities: 

a) Engage proactively with learning about, and showing commitment to, academic integrity

b) Submit their own work, while being transparent about any AI contributions

c) Protect their work from copying

d) Acknowledge contributions from all sources using the latest edition of APA referencing (as required)

Whitireia / WelTec academic kaimahi (staff) responsibilities:

a) Consistently model honesty in academic practice

b) Promote and inform students of the requirements and expectations for academic integrity in assessments and research

c) Discuss Artificial Intelligence (AI) writing at the beginning of a semester, to demonstrate the limitations of AI and develop responsible use of AI that preserves academic integrity

d) Inform students of text-matching software as a learning tool

e) Minimise potential for academic misconduct through assessment design and practice

Source: Whitireia/WelTec Taikura A4-P8 Academic Integrity Procedures

O'Leary, Z. (2024, October, 22). Artificial intelligence and its impact on the conduct of research [Webinar]. Sage.

Plagiarism is when you use someone else's ideas and / or words and claim them as your own. It is a serious offence.

Examples of plagiarism:

• Copying or rewriting someone's words or ideas without giving credit to the original author
• Passing someone else's words and ideas off as your own work
• Buying or downloading an assignment
• Borrowing or copying someone else's assignment 
• Reusing information you wrote in one assignment in another assignment.  This is called self plagiarism and gives the impression that work you have previously submitted is new and original. This is considered unethical and breaches academic integrity
• Working in a group and copying someone else's ideas or work. Working together as a group and discussing a topic is permissible, but you must submit work that is 100% your own
• Not recording where you got informaton from so you reference incorrectly or not at all

Keeping a record

Remember to include these elements when keeping a record of information you have used:

• Who wrote it (Author)
• When was it published (Date)
• What is it called (Title)
• Where can it be retrieved from (Source such as the name of the publisher or website etc)

• Know where your ideas have come from
• Keep a track of your sources and drafts
• If you use someone else's ideas, reference them using the APA Referencing Guide  
• Check with your tutor whether you should, or should not, be using AI in any of your assessments.
• If use of AI is allowed, ask your tutor to explain their expectations about appropriate usage of any type of AI
• Reference any AI software you have used. See APA Referencing: AI-ChatGPT, Microsoft 365 Co-pilot, Grammerly, Quilbot  
• Use of disclosure statements:
  • At the top of your reference list state whether or not you have used any AI tools in the writing or editing of your assignment 
  • Add a brief description of any AI tools you have used e.g. Grammerly, ChatGPT, Microsoft copilot
  • If you have quoted from, or paraphrased using AI software you need to use an in-text citation and reference list entry 
  • Rules could be different depending on your course so check with your tutor  

Note: You are at risk of accidentally committing academic misconduct if you submit work created by AI as your own. 

Source: Adapted from Ara Academic Integrity and AI 

See also: Whitireia /WelTec Assignment Writing: Assignment submission Guide

Refer to the Academic Integrity Procedures for how allegations of academic misconduct are handled. 

Note. AI tool quickguide. Adapted from Academic Integrity: Using AI Tools for Assignments by Wintec, 2024 (https://libguides.wintec.ac.nz/academic-integrity/using-ai-tools). Reprinted with permission.

Evaluate what you read and apply the C.R.A.A.P Test when using AI

It is important to evaluate information especially if it's found on the internet.  Apply this check list to make sure the information is suitable for academic purposes:

Currency. Timeliness. When was it published?

Relevance. Usefulness. Does it relate to your topic?

Authority. Source. Who wrote it? What are their qualifications? If using a website, how reliable is it? Look at the domain name (URL). Government: .govt, .gov, .mil; Educational: .edu, .ac, .school; Non-commercial: .org; Commercial: .net, .co, .com

Accuracy. Truthfulness. Where does the information come from? Is it peer-reviewed? Supported by evidence?

Purpose. Why does the information exist? Is it trying to inform, sell, teach, entertain, persuade? Is it objective or biased?

Source: Blakeslee, S. (2004). The CRAAP test. LOEX Quarterly, 31(3), 6-7. https://library.csuchico.edu/sites/default/files/craap-test.pdf