Academic Integrity and AI Policy

At Otis College of Art and Design, your ideas, voice, and creative process matter. Academic integrity means being clear about:

• What work is your own
• Where your ideas come from
• What tools, sources, and collaborators you use

Academic integrity is a core part of professional creative practice. Being transparent about your process prepares you for ethical work as an artist, designer, and scholar.

Originality does not mean working in isolation. Research, references, inspiration, and experimentation are essential to creative practice. But the examples and research of others, or of that produced by Artificial Intelligence (AI), must be acknowledged, transformed, and integrated into your own work.

Core Principle

You are responsible for ensuring that all submitted work:

1. Represents your own authorship, and
2. Accurately acknowledges all sources and tools that informed the final submission.

Plagiarism and Misrepresentation

Plagiarism occurs when you use material from other sources, human or AI, without proper acknowledgment or sufficient transformation.

This includes:

• Copying text, images, or media without citation
• Submitting another person’s work (in whole or part)
• Reusing your own prior work without instructor approval and without citation
• Misrepresenting how a work was created

Collaboration is often utilized in critical and creative practices, but must be transparent and appropriate.

Permissible:

• Peer discussion and critique
• Working with tutors who support your learning

Not Permissible:

• Having another person produce or significantly revise your work
• Using services that result in work that is not your own

Use of Artificial Intelligence in Creative and Academic Work

AI can be used as part of your process, but the final submitted work must demonstrate primary human authorship as defined below.

This means:

• AI may support ideation, exploration, or development
• Your final submission must reflect meaningful transformation, decision-making, and authorship by you

Unless otherwise instructed by faculty, the following generally applies: 

Citation of Artificial Intelligence Use

You are required to cite AI use when it materially contributes to your submitted work, as stated above.

You must provide attribution when using:

• Text, images, media, or ideas created by others
• Generative AI outputs that materially contribute to your work
• Any source that is not common knowledge

Citation should include:

• A brief statement describing how AI was used
• AI tools utilized
• Key prompt/s 
• Process documentation, if requested

Faculty may request additional information.

Citation Examples:

• “AI-generated images were used as a reference for early concept development. Final design and execution are my own.”
• “AI was used to help generate an initial outline. All writing and analysis are my own.”

Responsible Use of AI Tools (Data and Intellectual Property)

Students should not upload the following into generative AI tools:

• Confidential or private information
• Proprietary or institutional materials
• Copyrighted work without permission

Intent and Educational Development

Academic integrity violations may occur with or without intent.

• Unintentional errors are typically addressed through education and revision
• Intentional misconduct may result in disciplinary action

Otis prioritizes learning, reflection, and growth, while also maintaining academic integrity as a critical standard.

Consequences of Violating the Academic Integrity and Generative AI Policy

Alleged violations are reviewed by the Academic Integrity Committee. Each student who is reported to have violated the Policy will be offered the opportunity to speak directly to the Academic Integrity Committee.

Possible outcomes include:

• Revision and resubmission
• Failing grade on the assignment
• Reduction of course grade
• Disciplinary action

Acknowledgment

Portions of this policy were developed in consultation with ChatGPT, including a prompt that included this directive: “Please help me rewrite an Academic Integrity Policy from content I am pasting below so that it is legible to students and faculty and provides clarity around permissible acts vs impermissible ones. Ask me any questions you need before beginning.”