Academic Integrity and AI: Using AI Tools For Assignments

Image content reused with permission from Wintec [Academic Integrity website].

AI Tools: How to Ensure Academic Integrity and Avoid Plagiarism            

Be cautious when using Generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Microsoft Copilot to check or improve the quality of your writing for the following reasons:

1. Privacy and security: Anything you input into these AI models may be used for data training or sold to third parties. This means any personal information about yourself or anybody else you have included in your assignment is at risk of being freely available as 'searchable' information or onsold to advertisers. Parts of your work could also be generated as an output to other users of the AI Model.

2. Turnitin AI count: You will get a very high, if not 100% AI count.

3. Paraphrasing risks: Your work must be your own words in your own voice.  It may be very tempting to get AI tools to improve your writing but anything beyond spelling and grammar checks may be considered plagiarism (not your own work).

Tools you can use

1. Use the spelling and grammar checks in Word. Avoid Add-in tools. These writing assistants go beyond spelling and grammar and using them may be considered plagiarism (not your own work).

2. Grammarly is an AI tool for checking spelling and grammar.  See our advice on using Grammarly safely and which tools inside Grammarly to avoid.

Using Grammarly for improving assignments

Please note that you should always check with your kaiako (teacher) that it is ok to use Grammarly to spell check or grammar check your assignments.

Important note for students enrolled in the NZ Certificate in English Language (NZCEL) - You must not use Grammarly or any generative AI tool to produce language that is to be assessed as your own work.

Grammarly is a versatile writing tool. It uses AI to detect areas of your work that need improvement, so it will produce an AI count via Turnitin. So once again we recommend you always check with your kaiako about its use in your assignments.

If you have got permission to use Grammarly from your kaiako, you do not need to reference Grammarly if you use it for spelling and grammar only.

Appropriate use of Grammarly for improving assignments [If usage is approved by your kaiako]

Use Grammarly in the following way to avoid issues around academic misconduct:

1. Turn off automatic suggestions that occur as you write - in other words, complete the first draft of your assignment without any help from Grammarly. To turn off the generative writing functions in Grammarly, refer to the resource Using Grammarly Safely.

2. Save this draft and keep it as raw (untouched) by Grammarly) document that you can produce as proof of your original work if you are interviewed by your kaiako about AI use.

3. Use Grammarly for spelling and grammatical checks only by uploading your document to your Grammarly account.

4. Save the edited version as a separate document to your original one.

Inappropriate use of Grammarly for assignments

You must produce writing that has been written by you and is in your own voice. Grammarly has new AI functionality that if used would produce writing that would not be considered your own.

Grammarly tools to avoid:

• tone changing tools - getting Grammarly to change the tone and style of your writing to "academic" or "formal" language for example.
• any type of paraphrasing tools including English fluency - remember the work must be in your writing, in your voice.
• first draft generation - all drafts must be your own work.
• Grammarly generative AI tool  - this can be used to evaluate your writing or to brainstorm ideas but it must not be used for creating any content for your assignments.

Read the Grammarly privacy policy

If you need more advice about using AI in your assignments

• ask your kaiako / teacher or
• ask at the Library or email library@ara.ac.nz or
• drop in to a Learning Services Quick Questions session.

[Disclaimer: AI technology is rapidly evolving so this information may change in near future to reflect new developments.]

Guidelines on this page are adapted from Wintec Academic Integrity: Using AI in Assignments webpage. Thank you to Merren Tait, AI Librarian, Wintec, for permission to reuse their resources for this page. 

MacCallum K, Parsons D, Mohaghegh M (2024). The Scaffolded AI Literacy (SAIL) Framework for Education. He Rourou. He Rourou.