Seven students from Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) and two students from the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) have been sanctioned for the use of AI in assignments.
There has been a growing usage of AI across universities in the UK, leading to cases where students have been accused of plagiarism.
In 2023, nearly 400 university students were investigated for using AI bots like ChatGPT to cheat in their assessments.
Due to AI tools such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, Manchester universities have issued guidelines on this matter.
The University of Manchester permits the use of AI tools as long as it is, “used critically and with permitted license, and cited and acknowledged appropriately”.
Similarly, MMU acknowledges that AI can enhance learning but has stated that the misuse of such tools in assessments will be considered “academic misconduct.”
Manchester Metropolitan University also stated that students should not use artificial intelligence to “create the assessment itself”, and “should never trust the outputs of generative AI uncritically”.
Regarding tools to detect AI usage, such as GPTZero, the University of Manchester, said, “tools to detect AI-generated content are unreliable and biased and must not be used to identify academic malpractice in summative assessment. Output from such tools cannot be used as evidence of malpractice.”
It was found that “more than half of undergraduates say they consult artificial intelligence programmes to help with their essays”.
However, 1 in 5 students, “usually just copied what generative AI told them”.
When asked about the use of AI in education, a student at the University of Manchester, Mattia, said “[o]f course I have used AI as a helping aid, almost everyone on my course has. I would never use it in an assignment out of fear of sanctions. I understand why students would use AI but it is foolish to solely rely on it because of its inaccuracies. The consequences of being caught using it in assessments far outweigh the benefits of heavily relying on it”.
