Demystifying Ethical Writing Practice in the Age of AI: Survey Results from Framingham State University Professors

Presenter: Raena Hunter Doty

Faculty Sponsor: Patricia Lynne

School: Framingham State University

Research Area: Artificial Intelligence

Session: Poster Session 3, 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM, 163, C27

ABSTRACT

As generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools have become common, educators and administrators have to face questions about writing policy for use of these tools in the classroom: What are the ethical implications of using these tools? How should classroom and institutional policy reflect these implications? The field of writing studies has a history of interest in studying ethical writing practice, and research about plagiarism shows “ethical practice” is socially constructed and contextually dependent on the academic discipline, the purpose of the writing, and the genre, among other factors. Despite criticism of the way institutional and classroom plagiarism policies are not conducive to helping students learn ethical writing practices, these policies have changed little over the years. In order to get a sense of what changes might be helpful, I surveyed a sample of professors from Framingham State University. My study found that the ethical implications of practices often identified as plagiarism may not be consistent across different academic disciplines and social contexts, and the same is true for GenAI. In particular, professional fields may be open to practices identified as unethical in academic contexts, and different academic disciplines may have differing ethical standards. The results suggest that institutional and classroom writing ethics policies should be written and/or rewritten with greater consideration for the different social contexts in which students may be writing, especially as these policies are adapted to incorporate the ethics of writing with GenAI.

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