27 When can you use GenAI in your academic work?

Always check in with your instructor about GenAI use

If you are completing academic work, you need to check in with your instructor, through a syllabus statement or a conversation, about what is appropriate and ethical use of GenAI in the course.

Your instructor has the final word on what you can use GenAI for in your assignments and other coursework.

Appropriate* uses of GenAI in learning

• Brainstorming ideas as a starting point, followed by human development of a research question.
  • Example: Prompting AI to generate five different angles on the environmental impact of fast fashion to help you narrow down a specific research topic.
• Summarizing long texts for initial understanding, not to substitute reading the actual text.
  • Example: Generating a summary of a dense 19th-century philosophy text to grasp the main thesis before reading the original source line-by-line.
• Generating outlines to structure thoughts, not as a complete draft.
  • Example: Asking Google Gemini to outline a typical 10-page literature review so you can structure your main arguments logically.
• Checking grammar, spelling or tone similar to traditional tools you can find in word processing software.
  • Example: Pasting a paragraph you wrote to check for awkward phrasing, passive voice, or conciseness and then using those as suggestions to retain your own voice.
• Assisting with coding such as debugging, generating snippets, and understanding the code.
  • Example: Inputting a Python error code into an AI tool to understand why the code threw a KeyError and how to fix it.
• Supporting data analysis if you understand the methods and understand how to interpret the results.
  • Example: Asking AI to write an R script for a two-way ANOVA, then verifying the script against your lecture notes before running it on your data.
• Interactive self-tutoring to explain difficult concepts of abstraction or act like a study buddy.
  • Example: Asking GenAI: “Explain quantum entanglement using an analogy, then quiz me with 3 multiple-choice questions to test my understanding

*While these are examples, it is important that you first learn about what is allowed in your course before using a GenAI tool.

Inappropriate uses of GenAI in learning

• • Using AI in your coursework in a manner that doesn’t match what your instructor has allowed.
    • Example: Using AI to draft an assignment in a course where the syllabus explicitly states “All submitted work must be generated solely by the student.”
  • Submitting AI-generated content as your own original work (plagiarism).  Example: Copying an AI-generated paragraph into your research paper without citing the AI tool or framing it as generated content.
  • Uploading materials produced by others to GenAI without explicit permission including your instructor’s or licensed materials or the material is covered under a known exemption or license. Example: Uploading your professor’s lecture slides, exam questions, or a copyrighted textbook chapter into a public AI to generate study notes.
  • Using GenAI to write essays, papers, or code without significant human (meaning you!) contribution and understanding.
    • Example: Having AI write an entire essay based on a prompt, then submitting it with only minor word-choice edits.
  • Generating responses for assignments, exams, or quizzes.
    • Example: Pasting questions from an online quiz or take-home exam directly into ChatGPT to get immediate answers.
  • Fabricating data or sources with GenAI.
    • Example: Including references in your bibliography that AI generated, which look real (authors, titles, journals) but do not actually exist.
  • Misrepresenting GenAI’s role in your work.
    • Example: Claiming you used GenAI only for “grammar edits” when you actually asked it to structure the argument and write key passages.
  • False mastery of concepts by mistaking GenAI’s ability to produce correct answers for your own understanding of the material.
    • Example: Relying on AI to solve math or coding problem sets throughout the semester, only to fail proctored, closed-book exams because you never practiced solo.
  • Uncritical acceptance of bias and hallucinations instead of fact-checking the GenAI’s output.
    • Example: Repeating a historical fact or statistic generated by AI in your paper that is factually incorrect or reflects systemic bias in the training data.

It is important to always follow University of Minnesota guidelines for appropriate use of generative AI tools

Am I reviewing course policies, syllabus statements, and the student conduct code?

Every instructor sets their own restrictions on GenAI use in their course – what works in a computer science course may not work in a graphic design course.

• Safe Use: Using CoPilot  to generate outline ideas for a speech in a course whose syllabus explicitly permits GenAI for initial brainstorming.
• Risky Use: Refining a draft of a paper using Google Gemini where your instructor has an explicit “No GenAI” policy.

Am I using GenAI to help me learn the material, or to get an assignment done quickly?

Remember the idea of cognitive offloading? The primary goal of a lot of your coursework is to build skills, abilities or subject matter knowledge, even if it feels like busy-work sometimes.

• Safe Use: Asking GenAI to “Explain the concept of opportunity cost” to help clarify concepts you learned in class.
• Risky Use: Uploading your calculus homework problems to GenAI and copying the step-by-step output directly without attempting the math first.

How will I attribute or cite any GenAI use or contribution to my work?

Academic integrity relies on transparency. If GenAI assisted in structuring, revising, or generating ideas, failing to disclose that involvement can be treated as scholastic dishonesty.

• Safe Use: Adding a note or standard citation (such as APA or MLA format) specifying: “The initial structure of this document was generated using Google Gemini, and all text was written independently.”
• Risky Use: Having GenAI draft the introduction and conclusion of your research paper, changing up some of the words, and submitting it as your original work.

There is always some nuance or some “it depends” to any scenario. Review the following scenarios and answer the questions about appropriate use for learning.