AI Use Policy
This policy outlines expectations for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools including those based on Large Language Models (e.g., ChatGPT, Copilot, Grammarly, translation software) in the preparation of text and scholarly apparatus for all coursework and essays submitted for summative assessment (undergraduate and MPhil) in the Faculty of Classics.
1. Basic Principles
- Academic Integrity: All work submitted for assessment must represent the student’s own intellectual effort.
- Transparency: Any use of AI tools must be clearly acknowledged.
2. Permitted Uses of AI (with Disclosure)
Students may use AI tools in a limited and supplementary capacity. Examples include:
- English Language Support: Grammar and style suggestions (e.g., Grammarly), provided that the content remains the student’s own.
- Technical Assistance: Formatting references and compiling bibliographies from citations. Students remain responsible for the accuracy of their citations.
- Translation Tools: For initial comprehension of foreign-language sources (primary or secondary), provided translations are verified and critically assessed. The student is ultimately responsible for the accuracy of the translation and any arguments based on it. (Put differently, faulty arguments based on inaccurate translations will be marked accordingly.)
- Specialist AI tools: For support in image and data analysis or technical assistance, for example in reading damaged and incomplete texts or interpreting large-scale geographic or archaeological data. Students are responsible for subjecting the output to critical analysis.
All such uses must be disclosed in a note at the end of the submission.
3. Prohibited Uses
Students must not:
- Use AI to generate any portions of assessed work (e.g., essays, reports, commentaries, or analyses).
- Submit AI-generated interpretations, arguments, or summaries as their own.
- Use AI to paraphrase scholarly sources.
- Use AI tools to bypass engagement with core academic tasks (e.g., reading primary texts, conducting research, developing arguments).
4. Disclosure Requirement
a) The following declaration will be included on the cover-sheet for each piece of assessed submitted work:
‘I have not used AI to generate any part of the ideas, argument or structure of this work.’
b) Any other use of AI tools must be declared in a brief statement at the end of the submission indicating:
- Which tool(s) were used.
- What tasks the AI assisted with.
Example: ‘I used AI-enhanced Grammarly to ensure that my submission is free of typos, unidiomatic English, and awkward syntax.’
5. The Role of the Faculty
Course convenors and supervisors will:
- Help students with the interpretation of this policy.
- Discuss the limitations and risks of AI-generated content.
Initiate disciplinary procedures on suspected misuse.
6. Alignment with University Policy
This policy complements university-wide regulations on academic integrity and responsible technology use. Students are required to consult institutional guidance on AI and plagiarism.
The University policy on the use of AI in summative assessment states: ‘A student using any unacknowledged content generated by artificial intelligence within a summative assessment as though it is their own work constitutes academic misconduct, unless explicitly stated otherwise in the assessment brief.’
For more information, please refer also to the pages on plagiarism in the Classics Undergraduate/MPhil/PhD handbook as appropriate.
Further University guidance, including on the use of AI outside summative assessment, may be found here.