Universities urged to adopt clear AI rules after oped scandal
Universities should set minimum standards for academics using AI and require third-party certification to ensure work is “human-authored” before publication, according to a former chancellor of Monash University.
Dr., who also serves as Australia’s chief scientist. Alan Finkel called on higher education institutions to set minimum standards for academics using artificial intelligence in their work.
“You can’t have something as loose as what we’ve seen in the last few days,” he said.
On Wednesday, Western Sydney University professor Cath Ellis defended using artificial intelligence to help write a paper published in the journal. Sydney Morning Herald after peers noticed unusual language patterns. The article defended the university system and included advice such as “Don’t be fooled” and “Don’t outsource your thinking.” The work was also published at: Age website.
Ellis’s opinion piece was published in response to an earlier piece by academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who said widespread use of AI meant universities were accepting money from students for degrees they did not earn.
Finkel said the issue is an example of why academics’ work should be independently verified. However, he said that although universities were aware of the importance of the issue, they acted slowly.
“Attention is obvious,” he said.
“I care deeply about the abilities and ethics of academics and senior members of universities because I have worked with them. But they face an onslaught of technology that must be dealt with.”
Minimum standards for the use of AI in academic work should allow AI to be used as a research assistant, check spelling and grammar, or format a bibliography or index, Finkel said.
However, he said using AI to draft a paragraph of text or edit AI-generated text is unacceptable.
“The use of AI is insidious, it scares people. They use it a little, then they use it a little more, but we have to start tackling it before it gets out of control.”
Inventor and entrepreneur Finkel, who says he does not use artificial intelligence, founded Proudly Human in 2023..
The certification initiative verifies and labels human-written content for universities, publishers, authors, filmmakers, artists and other clients working in the creative industries.
His views were supported by Toby Walsh, professor of artificial intelligence at the University of New South Wales and an award-winning researcher.
Academics should explain how they use AI and there should be a code of conduct, Walsh said.
If universities expect students to comply with AI standards and disclosures, the same should happen for academics and instructors, he said.
“We need to be an example,” he said.
“I think it’s terrible if we want students to follow one set of rules and staff to follow another.”
However, he noted that AI detection tools are flawed and cannot always detect whether something was written by a human.
Alison Barnes of the National Higher Education Association said AI was being rolled out in universities without adequate regulation or oversight.
“There is a huge reputational risk for universities if unrestricted AI harms the quality of education,” he said.
Victoria branch president David Gonzalez said it was vital that academics were included in discussions about how AI could be used.
“We’re advocating for our next enterprise agreement to have a set of standards and understanding of what the policies around AI are because we’re basically being asked to use new systems and we don’t really know what they mean,” he said.
If an academic is using AI to help with their grades or edit papers, that doesn’t need to be disclosed, he said, but for scholarship it needs to be.
Speech The website asks academics to disclose whether artificial intelligence was used to produce their work when submitting articles.
Australia and New Zealand editor Misha Ketchell said in most cases the news website would not accept AI-generated articles, but there was room for editor discretion if there were legitimate reasons.
he said Speech We were getting more applications from academics created using AI, but that didn’t matter. And that didn’t always improve the work.
“The problem with AI is the same problem every child faces when they try finger painting for the first time. They want to show all the colors, but when you put them all together you get brown spots,” he said.
Universities Australia chief executive Luke Sheehy said the key was to ensure students and academics knew how to use AI responsibly, ethically and effectively.
“Like the internet before it, AI is a powerful tool. Our job is to ensure people are equipped to use it intelligently and responsibly in their work and in the workplaces of the future,” he said.
A Group of Eight spokesman said the university group had clear guidelines for the appropriate use of generative AI technologies by academic staff, researchers and students.
“Artificial intelligence and the responsible use of generative AI tools can support and enhance student learning, teaching and research, but this needs to be balanced with the need for academic excellence and research integrity,” the spokesperson said.
Cath Ellis could not be reached for comment Friday night.
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