1. General principle¶
In SDS320, purposeful, transparent and reflective use of AI tools is allowed as part of your learning process.
AI tools can support your work in a similar way to documentation, forums or peer discussion. They can help you understand concepts, improve code, debug errors or reflect on possible approaches.
However, AI tools should support your thinking, not replace it. The primary goal of this course is for you to develop your own knowledge, skills and judgement in spatial data science.
If an AI tool produces text or code that you cannot explain, adapt or validate, it is not helping your learning.
2. Appropriate uses¶
Appropriate uses of AI tools may include:
clarifying concepts from the course material,
asking for explanations of error messages,
improving grammar, readability or structure in your own writing,
reviewing code for possible issues,
exploring alternative approaches,
generating ideas for how to debug a problem,
reflecting on workflow choices,
asking for examples that help you understand a method.
When you use AI in these ways, you should stay actively involved. Treat AI-generated output as suggestions, not as authority.
3. Your responsibility¶
You are responsible for everything you submit.
This means that you must:
critically review AI-assisted content,
test AI-assisted code,
validate outputs against your data and project question,
edit generated text so that it reflects your own understanding,
clearly state when and how AI tools were used.
AI tools may help you work more efficiently, but they do not remove your responsibility for correctness, clarity, attribution and academic integrity.
4. What counts as problematic use¶
Problematic use includes presenting AI-generated work as your own without acknowledgement.
Simply copying AI-generated text or code without revision, validation or disclosure is considered plagiarism and will be sanctioned.
Plagiarism means presenting the work of others as your own. In this course, this includes work from AI tools, websites, publications, repositories or other external sources.
5. Disclosure statement¶
If you use AI tools during the preparation of your project report, include a short disclosure statement.
A suitable statement could be:
I used a large language model as an assistance tool during the preparation of this project to check grammar and spelling, improve linguistic clarity, debug code and reflect on possible approaches for data processing and analysis. All AI-assisted content was reviewed, edited and validated by me. Apart from the uses listed above, no AI tools were used in the preparation of this submission.
Adapt the statement so that it accurately reflects your actual use. Do not include uses that did not happen, and do not omit substantial AI assistance.
6. When in doubt¶
If you are unsure whether a specific use of AI is permitted, ask your course instructor before submitting your work.
This is especially important if AI tools are used for larger parts of project planning, code generation, text drafting, result interpretation or figure creation.
The safest approach is simple: use AI transparently, stay in control of your work and make sure you can explain your decisions.