Summer Practice!
My Philosophy on AI
Hello! In my classroom, I view Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a powerful tool that can help you learn more effectively, spark your creativity, and prepare you for the modern business world. My goal is not to ban AI, but to help you learn how to use it responsibly, ethically, and effectively.
Think of AI as your collaborator or an assistant—it can help you with specific tasks, but it cannot do your thinking for you. Ultimately, you are in control. Your ideas, your critical thinking, and your unique voice are what matter most to me and are what I will be grading.
How I Encourage You to Use AI (Green Light Uses ✅)
I encourage you to use AI tools (like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, etc.) for the following purposes. Remember, when you use AI in these ways, you must disclose it (see the "How to Disclose" section below).
Brainstorming: Generating ideas for a project, coming up with topics for a paper, or creating a list of potential marketing slogans.
Example Prompt: "Act like a marketing expert. What are five potential target audiences for a new brand of sustainable sneakers?"
Improving Creativity: Getting unstuck when you have writer's block or exploring different creative angles for an assignment.
Example Prompt: "I'm creating an ad campaign about financial literacy for college students. Give me three different creative concepts: one humorous, one serious, and one surprising."
AI Tutoring & Understanding Concepts: Asking for a simpler explanation of a complex topic or getting help understanding a key term from my class.
Example Prompt: "Explain the concept of 'market segmentation' like I'm 10 years old."
Getting Feedback: Using AI to review work you have already written to get suggestions on clarity, grammar, and tone.
Example Prompt: "Review this paragraph I've written for my marketing plan. Is the tone professional and persuasive? How can I make it more concise?"
Outlining & Structuring: Asking for help creating a logical structure or outline for your papers and presentations.
Example Prompt: "Create an outline for a 5-page report on the impact of social media influencers on consumer behavior."
How You Cannot Use AI (Red Light Uses 🚫)
Using AI in the following ways is a violation of my academic integrity policy. Doing any of the following will result in a zero on the assignment, and I may report it according to university policy.
Submitting AI work as your own: You may not copy and paste any text generated by an AI tool and submit it as your own original thought or writing. The words and ideas you submit for a grade must be yours.
Writing your assignments: You may not use an AI tool to write entire paragraphs, sections, or full drafts of any assignment.
Taking my quizzes or exams: You may not use AI in any way during my quizzes or exams.
Falsifying information: Remember that AI can make mistakes or "hallucinate" information. You are responsible for the accuracy of everything you submit.
Your Responsibility as a Scholar
You are the author and are 100% responsible for your submitted work. This means you must:
Fact-Check Everything: Verify any data, facts, or sources that AI provides. Assume it could be wrong.
Think Critically: Edit, revise, and add your own unique insights to any ideas you get from an AI.
Own Your Work: Be prepared to explain and defend any part of your assignment to me. If you can't explain it in your own words, you haven't learned the material.
How to Disclose Your AI Use (Required)
Transparency is key. For any assignment where you used AI, you must include an "AI Usage Appendix" at the end of your submission. This appendix must include:
A list of the AI tool(s) you used (e.g., ChatGPT 4.0, Midjourney, Grammarly AI).
A description of how you used the tool(s).
The full prompts you used to generate any graphics, images, or significant ideas.
Example Appendix:
AI Usage Appendix
Tool Used: ChatGPT (GPT-4)
How I Used It: I used ChatGPT to brainstorm three potential taglines for the product in my marketing campaign. I then selected one of the taglines and developed my own reasoning for why it would be effective.
Tool Used: Midjourney
How I Used It: I used Midjourney to create the concept image for the product packaging on page 5.
Prompt Used: "imagine prompt a sleek, minimalist black box for a luxury smartwatch, with a single, glowing blue line across the middle, product photography style"
Confirming Your Expertise: Verifying Your Voice
The goal of every assignment is for you to build and demonstrate your knowledge. The most important part of my policy is that you are the author of your work and the expert on what you submit.
To ensure the work you submit is a true reflection of your learning, I will use the following method to verify your understanding. This isn't a "gotcha" or a test, but a conversation to hear more about your work. I might ask you to:
Define a key term you used in your paper.
Explain a marketing concept from your project in your own words.
Walk me through your reasoning for a particular analysis or conclusion.
If you are unable to explain the core concepts, vocabulary, or reasoning within your own assignment, I will consider it improper use of AI and a violation of my academic integrity policy. This will result in a zero for the assignment. Any suspected violation of the AI policy may also require a review of all your previously submitted work in this course.
A Final Thought
This policy might be updated as AI technology continues to change. I will communicate any changes clearly. My goal is to see you succeed and learn together how to prepare you for a future where working alongside AI will be a valuable professional skill. If you ever have questions about whether a specific use of AI is acceptable, please ask me!