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Generative AI

Generative AI policy

The goals of this class are to help students learn the essentials of data visualization, analysis, and communication.While generative AI can be helpful for boosting productivity at boilerplate tasks during coding or writing, we find that over-relying on tools like ChatGPT or CoPilot can undermine a student's learning of fundamental skills and concepts. Further, it can diminish a student's capacity for deep thinking and critical problem solving by offloading the intellectual struggle inherent to creative work. For these reasons, students are forbidden from using generative AI to complete coursework for them (e.g., pasting assignment prompts into ChatGPT, using ChatGPT to write the project). While we discourage the use of generative AI, we do not prohibit it entirely. We recognize their are legitimate uses of this technology that students may wish to practice through their coursework. Be extremely cautious when using such tools, as they have no sense of what is correct or true and may produce plausible-looking code or writing that contains errors.

The following are the only permissible uses of generative AI:

  • Students may use autocomplete tools such as CoPilot to complete individual lines of code, as long as students understand exactly what that line of code is producing. Students should exercise caution when repeatedly using this functionality (i.e., generating several lines one after the other).
  • If students don't understand what a piece of code is doing (e.g., a piece of code provided by the instuctors or found in an online example), students can ask a generative AI questions about that code. Students should follow up on these explanations by looking up key pieces of syntax in the API documentation.
  • Students may ask generative AI to review their work (e.g., giving feedback on code or writing, helping to diagnose bugs in code or issues with the flow of a written argument). If generative AI suggests an alternative, the student should use this to inform their own thinking and then manually revise their own solution.

The following are NOT permissible uses of generative AI:

  • Students may not use generative AI for any part of any write-up, including analysis or design rationales (you must describe what you did with your own words).
  • Generating more than 5 lines of code at a time from a generative model is not allowed.
  • The generative model should not be used to solve the main intellectual aspect of any coursework, such as proposing a project idea or a solution to assigments.
  • Presenting the outputs of generative AI as one’s own work, without explicit citation and acknowledgment of what specifically was used from such models is not allowed. This includes presenting AI-generated code or revisions to a piece of writing as a student's own work.