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Generative AI (tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, or Gemini) is rapidly changing how students learn, study, and prepare for their future professions. For many faculty, this brings both exciting opportunities and real concerns, especially around academic integrity, ethical use, and skill development.
Students are already experimenting with these tools. Some use them regularly, while others are just beginning to explore. Faculty play a key role in helping students understand how to use AI thoughtfully, responsibly, and transparently.
This page offers strategies, conversation starters, and recommendations you can use to support students in the responsible use of Generative AI.
Talking with Students About Generative AI
Creating space for open dialogue helps students reflect on both the opportunities and risks of AI in learning. These conversations can normalize questions and reduce confusion about expectations in your course.
You might ask students:
- What do you already know about Generative AI?
- How is AI being used - or likely to be used - in your field or profession?
- What are your concerns or questions about AI?
- What are the potential risks of relying on AI in education?
- How could AI support your learning journey?
- How might AI affect academic integrity, creativity, or independent thinking?
- How can we make AI use transparent and fair for everyone in our classroom?
Key Conversation Points
When discussing AI in your classroom, you may want to highlight:
- Academic integrity
- Clarify the rules for your course: Is AI allowed for brainstorming, drafting, studying, or not at all?
- Stress the importance of original thinking and giving credit when appropriate.
- Review George Brown’s Academic Integrity Policy with your students.
- Transparency
- Encourage students to disclose if and how they used AI in their work.
- Show how to cite AI tools when relevant.
- Model transparency by sharing when you use AI yourself.
- Critical thinking
- Remind students that AI can produce errors, outdated information, and biased or harmful content.
- Encourage fact-checking, critical evaluation, and independent judgment.
- Skill development
- Position AI as a study partner, not a replacement for learning.
- Emphasize that developing writing, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills remains essential.
- Equity and access
- Acknowledge that not all students have equal access to AI tools.
- Discuss strategies for inclusive learning so that no student is disadvantaged.
Recommendations for students
Feel free to adapt and share these tips with your class:
- Ask your instructor about their rules for AI use in each course and assignment.
- Fact-check everything. AI tools can “make things up”, produce harmful information or reinforce bias.
- Keep records of your AI use (tools, prompts, outputs, dates) to support transparency and reflection.
- Disclose when you use AI in coursework.
- Use multiple resources. AI is one tool. Connect with peers, professors, and other supports for deeper learning.
- Read George Brown’s Academic Integrity Policy to understand your responsibilities.
Feel free to review, download, adapt, and share this Word version of Recommendations for Students: Using Generative AI Responsibly in Your Learning.
Suggested activities
Here are some strategies you can use to facilitate conversations about Generative AI in your classroom:
- Anonymous Input: Use Padlet, Mentimeter, or Forms to gather student questions about AI anonymously.
- Think-Pair-Share: Invite students to reflect individually, then discuss in pairs and share with the class.
- Policy Review: Share your course policy on AI and review guidelines together.
- Compare & Critique: Provide an AI-generated draft and ask students to evaluate it for accuracy, clarity, and bias.
- Case Studies & Scenarios: Discuss short ethical dilemmas involving AI in education or workplaces.
- Reflection Journals: Encourage students to log how they use AI for learning, including benefits and challenges.
- Debate or Role-Play: Debate statements like “AI improves learning” or “AI weakens original thinking.”
- Co-Creation of Guidelines: Collaboratively establish class norms for AI use.
ChatGPT EDU was used to help review, organize, and proofread this page.