CSE Generative AI Policy

Laptops and tablets show blue generative AI imagery in a futuristic conference room.

Departmental Policy on Generative AI in Theses and Other Written Works

CSE recognizes that Generative AI tools can help students communicate in an unfamiliar language and have applications when brainstorming, ideating, or building temporary scaffolds.

Conversely, CSE also recognizes that Generative AI is not a substitute for careful, thoughtful, well-reasoned thought; that its output can be incorrect, misleading, or otherwise harmful; that its overuse has profoundly negative environmental impacts; and that over-reliance on Generative AI reduces cognitive engagement with acts of creation.

Keeping these considerations in mind, this policy reaffirms our commitment to producing high-quality research.  CSE reaffirms the following baseline expectations for all scholarly work produced by its students, faculty, and staff, particularly for Theses and Capstone Project Documents.

Policy

  1. CSE holds the author or authors of a scholarly work to be responsible for its content, regardless of the process used to create the publication.  It is the authors’ responsibility to make sure that referenced citations are valid, that their arguments are self-consistent, and that their claims are adequately supported.
  2. CSE holds the author or authors of a scholarly work to be responsible for its originality.  In publishing their work, the authors are expected to adequately disclose its provenance, relationship to other related works, and/or to credit other works from which it was derived.  If provenance of some content can not be fully asserted (e.g., artifacts produced using Generative AI tools), such content must be clearly identified (including the use of Generative AI tools in a supporting role; e.g., editing for grammar).
  3. CSE expects the author or authors of a scholarly work to take ownership of the published material.  By publishing the work, the authors assert their understanding and approval of the published work and all claims it makes.