Generative Artificial Intelligence, commonly known as generative AI or AI, is progressing at a rapid rate. This form of technology includes AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT.
It’s important to understand that, depending on your university or college’s policies, using AI as part of your studies may be restricted or banned.
Alternatively, there might be subjects or tasks where the use of AI is encouraged or even required.
Where use of AI is permitted, you will need to understand how the use of these tools is referenced.
Use of AI in a way that is not consistent with your institution’s rules can result in a finding of academic misconduct.
TEQSA encourages all higher education students to discuss expectations around AI with their institution and ensure they follow their university or college’s instruction to avoid breaching academic integrity.
Because rules might be different in various disciplines, it’s best to make sure you understand the expectations for each assessment task.
Assessments and AI
TEQSA does not mandate a particular form of assessment be used - the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 requires institutions to assess a student’s knowledge and understanding of the subject.
The increasing sophistication of AI might mean that some assessment tasks are redesigned to ensure students cannot substitute student work with material produced by AI.
Redesigning assessments is an appropriate response to the risks posed by AI and is one that TEQSA supports.
You should discuss any concerns you have about how changes to assessment could impact you due to disability or other circumstances with your university or college.
All Australian higher education institutions are required to have policies and procedures to respond to student concerns – you can usually find them on your university or college’s website or student portal.
Other AI resources for students
We’re sharing these links to assist students in understanding how AI works and how to ethically use it while upholding their academic integrity.
Remember, before following any advice within these links, you should first check with your institution.
- Everyone's having a field day with ChatGPT – but nobody knows how it actually works (Professor Toby Walsh, UNSW for The Conversation)
- Ethical ways to use ChatGPT as a student (Open Universities Australia)
- Using AI tools for study (Flinders University Library)
- Using generative AI (Deakin University Library)
Translated versions
The information on this webpage has been translated into various languages.
Understanding academic integrity