Use cases of generative artificial intelligence in preparing student work to be assessed

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) can support the student community in learning – applications useful to organise content and develop ideas in a conscious way.

The University of Bologna encourages a responsible and conscious use of these tools.

GenAI should enhance critical thinking and personal creativity without replacing them.

The following examples of use cases cover the preparation of student work to be assessed by presenting some of the most widespread applications.

Generating the structure for a paper or dissertation

- It complies with the University Policy principles, provided you implement active supervision and critical thinking and are able to account for the generated results.
- It requires citing the use of GenAI.
Key points of attention

Risk that the generated content is inaccurate.
Risk that the output is inconsistent with and not relevant to the dissertation objectives.

Suggestions and actions to complete

It is recommended that you check with your teacher whether this use case is permitted and follow their instructions.

If it is permitted:
Make sure that the generated content is not a reproduction of existing work and is accurate.
Check that the table of contents, chapters and sections are relevant to and consistent with the dissertation objectives.

Writing a dissertation

- It complies with the University Policy principles, provided you implement active supervision and critical thinking and are able to account for the generated results.
- It requires citing the use of GenAI.
Key points of attention

Risk that the generated content is inaccurate.
Risk that the output is inconsistent with and not relevant to the dissertation objectives.

Suggestions and actions to complete

It is recommended that you check with your teacher whether this use case is permitted and follow their instructions.

If it is permitted:
Provide an initial draft to guide content generation.
Check that the generated text is consistent with the rest of the document.
Transform bulleted and numbered lists into conversational style where appropriate.
Make sure that the generated content is not a reproduction of existing work.
Check the content for compliance with the applicable principles and regulations.
Check that sentences and paragraphs are consistent with the subject being covered and avoid errors and inaccuracies.

Generating or explaining a programming code

- It complies with the University Policy principles, provided you implement active supervision and critical thinking and are able to account for the generated results.
- It requires citing the use of GenAI, unless the generated code is merely ancillary to the paper (e.g. code for chart rendering)
Key points of attention

Risk of semantic errors in the generated code.
Risk of copyright infringement.
Risk that the generated code violates legal rules.

Suggestions and actions to complete

It is recommended that you check with your teacher whether this use case is permitted and follow their instructions.
You should provide a detailed description of the activity to guide code generation.

If it is permitted:
Check the generated code for semantic correctness before executing it.
Check that you have specific permission to upload to the GenAI system copyrighted or confidential documents, or documents subject to other contractual obligations.
Make sure that the generated code and algorithmic solutions comply with the principles and legal rules and avoid discrimination and unlawful practices.
- It complies with the University Policy principles, provided you implement active supervision and critical thinking and are able to account for the generated results.
- It requires citing the use of GenAI.
Key points of attention

Risk of copyright infringement.
Risk that the generated code violates legal rules.

Suggestions and actions to complete

It is recommended that you check with your teacher whether this use case is permitted and follow their instructions.

If it is permitted:
Check that the generated code does not contain copyrighted material, or obtain the relevant licence.
Make sure that the generated code and algorithmic solutions comply with the principles and legal rules and avoid discrimination and unlawful practices.

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Use cases of generative artificial intelligence in preparing student work to be assessed

Generating the structure for a paper or dissertation

Key points of attention

Suggestions and actions to complete

Writing a dissertation

Key points of attention

Suggestions and actions to complete

Generating or explaining a programming code

Key points of attention

Suggestions and actions to complete

Key points of attention

Suggestions and actions to complete

Your GenAI Feedback Matters

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