Abstract:

The development of generative AI authoring tools such as ChatGPT have raised difficult challenges for both educators and students. In the case of academic staff there is a concern that students may use AI authoring tools to gain an advantage by using them to write assessments; students have concerns about appropriate ways in which they may use AI. At the University of Bedfordshire, it has proven extremely difficult to reconcile the positions of both parties – however our position is that by engaging students in discussions about the ethics of AI use that we encourage a common understanding between staff and students.

This study is part of a DBR (Design Based Research) effort to develop the first iteration of a framework which examines six ethical dilemmas that we believe reflect students’ experiences in Higher Education and the potential influence or involvement of AI: high achievement with a sudden and unexpected failure, constant underperformance and impending failure; the action of peer reviewing when AI is and is not used; how AI may enhance groupwork and might substitute for group members contributions are lacking. We describe the ethical framework underlying each of the six dilemmas and provide an outline of the possibilities for the potential responses for each scenario. We also discuss the potential methodological approaches which are appropriate to test the framework we have developed. This will be used in an active research project with the next stage of our development which will combine direct engagement with both student and staff groups, and demonstrating how the two groups responses differed. The paper will be useful for anyone considering how students and staff can be engaged in a conversation about the ethical use of AI authoring tools, and to help both academics and students engage with what is a difficult topic.

Keywords:

AI authoring, ethics, student engagement, staff engagement, design based research.