AI Policy Statement | Overview

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a transformative element of academia today. The Department of World Languages and Literatures (WLL) at The University of Memphis acknowledges the importance of both embracing technological advancements and upholding academic integrity. To balance innovation and academic rigor, we have developed a flexible, 3-tiered AI policy, which allows for diverse applications of AI tools while giving faculty the autonomy to adapt their courses based on their specific goals and pedagogical priorities.

This policy serves to foster technological literacy in regard to AI tools, recognizing the value of exploring their benefits and risks in academic settings. As part of our commitment to preparing students for a digital future, we offer a tiered system that grants instructors the liberty to select a tier most suited to their course design. Professors may add minor modifications to the policy as long as the guidelines and consequences are clearly outlined in the syllabus.

The three tiers of the policy are as follows:

• Tier I | Transparent Collaboration: Liberal and open use of AI tools with reasonable restrictions, such as clear citation of AI-generated content and prohibition of claiming AI-produced work as one’s own.
• Tier II | Reasonable Restriction: Controlled use of AI tools that still allows students to integrate them into their learning but with more structure and limitations regarding when and how AI can be used.
• Tier III | Limited Usage: A more restrictive approach that limits the use of AI tools entirely or severely restricts their presence in coursework, with an emphasis on student independence and original thinking.

Instructors are encouraged to adopt one of these tiers based on their course objectives, elaborating on the policy in their syllabus regarding the allowed scope of AI usage and the consequences for misuse should the departmental policy not be sufficient for the course objectives. Instructors will select a policy for their course using the following in their syllabus:

This course adopts The University of Memphis Department of World Languages and Literatures
Tier [I, II, or III] AI Policy, which can be found on the WLL website at [Insert Link Here]. Please familiarize yourself with the policy as it outlines the use of AI tools in this course and the associated guidelines. Instructors are encouraged to adopt one of these tiers based on their course objectives, potentially elaborating on the policy in their syllabus regarding the allowed scope of AI usage should the departmental policy not be sufficient for the course objectives.