the AI policy at my school says one thing and teachers enforce something completely different. how are students supposed to know what to do? one teacher says never use it. one says use it but cite it. one has never mentioned it in class. how are students supposed to know what to do?
the inconsistency is a structural problem, not an individual teacher problem. the institution sets a policy and delegates interpretation to faculty. faculty have different views, different technical understanding, and different relationships with AI tools. the result is what you’re experiencing.
the policy failure is the absence of operational specificity. ‘AI use is prohibited’ is not a policy. a policy needs to define what counts as AI use, what disclosure looks like, and what the consequence of violation is. without those specifics, every teacher fills in the blanks differently.
from the faculty side: many of us don’t have clear guidance from our institutions either. i’ve made my own judgment calls because there’s no operational standard above me. the inconsistency runs from the top down.