7. Additional SUTD Resources for Ethical & Responsible AI Use

SUTD faculty and students are encouraged to discuss a common understanding of responsible AI use in a given course and within the context of their discipline. For example, in a design project course, the instructor might encourage students to consult AI for inspiration and note that such usage does not require citation; it is because the course’s emphasis is on developing students’ familiarity with a range of AI tools to aid the ideation process in solving a complex challenge. On the other hand, the instructor of a creative programming course might invite students to cite the AI tools that were used to create a project, including their specifics (e.g., Sonnet 4.6, Chirp 3, and Gemini 3.5 Flash). This is because understanding the materiality of AI and the effect of such mediation is part of the learning objective in this course.

Aside from such diverse approaches to AI usage on our campus, we encourage SUTD faculty and students to establish a clear definition of academic integrity in the AI era, and to recognize how falling short of it is a serious offense that could erode trust.

For example, unethical use of AI includes fabricating data, evidence, or references, as well as disregarding intellectual property or confidential information. Generating AI content without appropriate disclosure as recommended by instructors, to pass off as one’s own work, moreover, constitutes plagiarism. Both are considered breaches of academic integrity.

Students should learn—with guidance from faculty—that they are bound by the SUTD Honour Code and are expected to act with integrity and accountability in academic, professional, and communal settings. The aim is not to police students’ conduct, but to help them understand what integrity looks like in practice as emerging design innovators. Regarding appropriate citation practices in a course or a project with industry or community partners, faculty and students may make use of workshops offered by SUTD Library. Where appropriate, faculty may also allow students to resubmit their work, recognizing that mistakes can be part of the learning process.

While we trust everyone on campus honors the mutual trust, in cases of plagiarism, both students and faculty are to follow the procedures in accordance with SUTD’s “Student Disciplinary Framework” (available via MyPortal for students and SUTD Central for faculty).