GenAI tools in teaching and learning.

At this time, whether the use of AI tools in courses and assessments is or is not allowed is a course or program-level decision.  

Individual instructors must clarify expectations with their students in their syllabus according to updates to Senate Policies V-130 (Vancouver) and O-130 (Okanagan). Starting September 1, 2026 all syllabi must include a statement on the usage of generative AI tools as well as an academic integrity statement (Vancouver and Okanagan).

If instructors have questions about any Department or program level policies on artificial intelligence tools, they should reach out to their Department or program.

Students should review the guidelines established for their courses, make sure they have permission from their instructors before using any AI tools for assessed work, and ask their instructors if they have any questions or anything is unclear.

In general:  

• If using generative AI tools on coursework has been prohibited by the instructor, then using these tools to complete assignments or assessments would be considered academic misconduct.
• If using generative AI tools has been permitted by the instructor, then instructors should make sure to convey the limitations of use and how it should be acknowledged and students’ use should stay within those bounds.     
• If the use of generative AI tools has not been discussed or specified by the instructor on the syllabus, then students should reach out to their instructor for clarification and permission for use.  

Students should not assume that all available technologies are permitted. Students should be aware that AI is integrated into many technologies such as translation tools, writing and citation tools, and general search engines. 

If students are not sure about whether AI tools are allowed, and for what stages of their work, as with any tool, they must ask their instructor for clarity and guidance.     

UBC’s Academic Calendar provides guidance on what is considered academic misconduct (Academic Misconduct by UBC Students, Vancouver and Okanagan). Academic misconduct includes, among other things, any conduct by which a student gains or attempts to gain an unfair academic advantage or benefit, thereby compromising the integrity of the academic process. Artificial intelligence tools are not expressly named in the academic misconduct regulation but their use could be considered an attempt to gain an unfair academic advantage, as well constituting other prohibited conduct such as unauthorized means to complete an assignment or assessment, the accessing of a website that is not permitted, or other, depending on the specific case.      

It is important for instructors to discuss expectations around academic integrity ahead of assignments and exams and throughout the term. UBC’s Academic Integrity website contains information and resources for instructors and for students.

All credit courses offered at UBC are required to have a syllabus, the content of which is governed by Senate Policy V–130 and O-130 (Content and Distribution of Course Syllabi). Effective September 1, 2026, a statement on academic integrity that informs students of expectations in the course, including a link to the Academic Calendar policy on Academic Misconduct, is a mandatory element of the syllabus (Vancouver and Okanagan).

For more information about academic integrity statements:

• Academic Integrity Syllabus Statement (Vancouver and Okanagan)

A statement on generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) usage in student submitted work that clarifies how the use of GenAI is permitted or not permitted is also required on the syllabus (Vancouver and Okanagan).

For more information about generative AI statements:

• Generative Artificial Intelligence Syllabus Language (CTLT Vancouver and CTL Okanagan)
• Your Course Syllabus (CTLT Vancouver and CTL Okanagan)

Students may use GenAI in work submitted for courses or other academic requirements only if expressly permitted within their courses or programs. They may choose to use GenAI to support their learning in other ways, within the bounds of legal and university policies and requirements, and the Principles and Guidelines for Generative Artificial Intelligence in Teaching and Learning.  

Students should discuss any questions with their instructor if the use of AI tools is not addressed on the syllabus or the course syllabus has not addressed their specific question. 

The following link also includes information about Learning with GenAI for students. A GenAI flowchart is available with visual guidelines about using GenAI tools in UBC courses. 
 

The use of applications to detect AI-generated content is strongly discouraged at this time, due to concerns about effectiveness, accuracy, bias, privacy, and intellectual property.     
 
Instructors should not submit student academic work or personal information to AI detectors that have not undergone a UBC Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) and have not been approved for this use. As of Fall 2026, no AI detection tools have undergone a UBC PIA. The AI in Teaching and Learning  website has a webpage on the current status of PIAs for generative AI tools at UBC.  
 
UBC continues to assess the results of independent academic research into the effectiveness of AI detection tools, rather than relying on the statements from vendors that claim universally high accuracy. In general, detectors cannot keep pace with the rapid advances in model capability and the metrics used to ‘detect’ AI writing can be strongly biased against non-native English speakers. The announcement about UBC’s decision not to enable the AI detection feature in Turnitin provides further information about concerns with AI detectors.

Not using AI detectors does not mean giving up on academic integrity. There are things instructors can do proactively and responsively to encourage ethical and transparent use of AI tools in their classes and promote academic integrity. Instead of AI detectors, some of the approaches to evaluating possible academic misconduct that educators have used before the broad availability of GenAI may also be effective when considering inappropriate use of GenAI. These include comparing work produced out of out of class to work produced in class, or having an exploratory conversation with students about their work.  
 
For more information about AI detection, please see Low-effort Strategies for Academic Integrity in the Age of GenAI (CTL). 

If an instructor suspects that an assignment or assessment has been completed with unauthorized use of AI tools, they should proceed as they would for any other potential allegation of academic misconduct. An overview of the academic misconduct process for instructors is available on the academic integrity website. 

Turnitin is a plagiarism prevention-tool available that helps check the academic integrity of student writing. Currently Turnitin’s AI-detection functionality is not available for use in any UBC course. In 2023, UBC reaffirmed their decision to not enable Turnitin’s new AI-detection feature.  

On April 4 2023, Turnitin activated a new and separate feature that attempts to identify AI-generated text. The LT Hub Leadership group, with the support of the Provosts at both UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan, made the decision not to enable this feature at that time (April 2023) and has reaffirmed their decision (August 2023).

UBC is continuing to wait before deploying any AI-detection features, including the one by Turnitin, as more information is needed about the feature’s effectiveness, accuracy and bias mitigation, and about the ability to employ an AI detector as a robust component of talking to students about suspected academic misconduct. The use of other AI detection tools is also not recommended, due to similar issues as those noted above, as well as privacy and security concerns. To date, no AI detection tool has undergone a UBC Privacy Impact Assessment process.   

Instructors who suspect that a student has used generative artificial intelligence tools contrary to expectations should follow the standard academic misconduct process as they would for any misconduct allegation. This might include inviting the student in for a conversation about their work and any irregularities or inconsistencies identified. 

If instructors have questions about their Faculty’s process, they should contact their Faculty delegate. 

If students have concerns about any allegations of academic misconduct against them, they can reach out to the Office of the Ombudsperson for Students, AMS Advocacy, GSS Advocacy or SUO Advocacy. 

For more information on citing Gen-AI content, please refer to the UBC Library’s Guide which includes When and What to Cite from Generative AI (https://guides.library.ubc.ca/GenAI/cite).

GenAI Teaching and Learning Guidelines  

Use of Generative AI | Graduate School at The University of British Columbia (UBC) 

Training Hub – Generative AI 

Privacy & Risk – Generative AI