Can AI be used to help you with your exams or coursework?
The general answer is NO!
Some courses allow certain AI to be used but check with your department before the exam or assessment.
Top Tips
If you are unsure about using a form of AI, please refer to the Guidance for Students in the Appendix on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and academic integrity (part of Birkbeck’s Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy). Students should read these policies carefully and speak to their tutors before using AI-powered tools to complete an assessment.
Please note, that Birkbeck has opted to use Turnitin’s AI writing detection tool which will highlight any passages in an assessment produced by AI-powered tools, although this alone cannot be used as evidence of academic misconduct.
What am I allowed to use?
It is fine to use some forms of AI, especially in the preparatory stages of your work.
Examples include:
- Supporting language translation (e.g., translating a word using Google Translate)
- Checking or highlighting spelling and grammatical errors (e.g., using Microsoft Word’s individual grammar suggestions).
- Support in understanding a difficult piece of writing by summarising the main points or extracting key findings.
What am I not allowed to use?
- Using AI software such as ChatGPT to create your assessments and present these as your own is cheating. This is an assessment offence and against the College’s academic misconduct policy.
- AI software cannot be used to avoid the process of critical thinking and learning.
- AI software cannot be used to complete assessed work that demands your original thinking and creativity.
Key sources of information
If you remain unclear, please speak to a tutor before using AI-powered tools to complete an assessment.