29 Case Study: GenAI as a study tool
The scenario
Maya is a second-year psychology major. As finals week approaches, she’s feeling the pressure. One of her most demanding psychology courses has a cumulative final exam covering dense readings, detailed lecture slides, and complex theories discussed throughout the semester.
That’s when she turned to Microsoft Copilot. Maya had used Copilot before for writing assistance and organizing notes, but this time she explored its more advanced capabilities. She uploaded her class notes, the course syllabus, lecture presentations, and assigned readings from the Libraries to generate study materials. The tool helped her summarize long academic texts, extract key terms and definitions, and even create structured outlines of lecture content.
For Maya, Copilot felt like a breakthrough – saving her time and helping her learn. By reviewing the AI-generated summaries and flashcards, she was able to reinforce her understanding of core concepts and identify areas where she needed more review. The tool acted like a study partner, helping her organize information, clarify complex ideas, and prepare for the final exam in a more focused and personalized way. Encouraged by how helpful the materials were, Maya decided to share them with her classmates, hoping they too could benefit from the clarity and structure Copilot provided.
However, a few days later, Maya receives an email from her professor. A classmate mentioned the study aids during office hours, prompting the professor to investigate. After reviewing the materials, the professor requests a meeting to discuss the situation with Maya since they are concerned about the use of AI to process and redistribute course content without their permission.
Where can you identify appropriate and inappropriate uses of GenAI in Maya’s case?
- Uploading course notes – Maya’s own course notes are hers to do with as she will – so this is an appropriate use.
- Uploading course materials – unless explicitly permitted by her instructor, this was not appropriate to upload the course syllabus and lecture presentations to a GenAI tool. It is likely a violation of the Libraries’ license agreements with publishers to upload assigned readings.
There are alternate ways that Maya could have used GenAI as a study tool without violating academic integrity policies. For example,
- Maya could have used her own class notes as a jumping off point to build a study aid for this class.
- Maya could have also asked her instructor if it was permitted to upload the lectures and syllabus to CoPilot.
