Over the last year, we’ve seen a huge increase in the accessibility of AI tools to the public, with many workplaces readily adopting the technology to streamline their processes and achieve efficiencies.

AI is clearly here to stay, and the University of Nottingham has a keen interest in this technology and how it might be used to enhance our teaching, learning and research activities. However, it’s worth remembering that this is a new technology and not without its limitations – both ethical and in terms of the quality of output.

The university considers the unauthorised use of AI tools in assessments to constitute false authorship, which is an academic offence under the Academic Misconduct Policy.

However, there may be some assessments where the use of AI tools is permitted (to research a topic or formulate an essay structure, for instance). If this is the case, it will be clearly communicated to you when the assessment is first set that you may use AI tools, how you are permitted to do so, and how to appropriately reference their use to comply with our anti-plagiarism regulations. Otherwise, you should assume that the use of these tools during your assessment is not permitted.

If you are using AI tools to help you with your studies, it’s worth remembering that there are inherent limitations, ethical problems and engrained biases. You can check out our guidance below, which details these problems and gives advice on how these tools might be used in a constructive manner to complement your studies.

ChatGPT and Generative AI guidance >