Your School's AI Policy

Your School's AI Policy: Why Authenticity Is The Most Important Conversation You're Not Having

AI is no longer a futuristic concept; it's here, and our students are using it. As educators, our first instinct might be to focus on the exciting new uses—creating quizzes, differentiating lessons, or brainstorming project ideas. But before you dive in, there’s a more fundamental and critical step: understanding your school's policy on generative AI and authenticity.

Navigating this new landscape requires more than just knowing what a chatbot can do. It requires us to understand the rules of the road.

The Problem with "Just Cheating"

Many of us started by viewing AI as a new form of cheating. A student uses it to write an essay, and we run an AI detector—an "arms race" that's proving to be ineffective and creates an adversarial relationship with our students. The truth is, AI is a powerful tool for learning. A student using it to brainstorm, outline, or proofread is not cheating; they're using a modern-day tool.

The real issue isn't whether they use it, but how they use it. This is where the concept of authenticity comes in.

Authentic work is work that demonstrates the student's own skills, knowledge, and understanding. If a student uses an AI tool to complete a task that is meant to be a direct demonstration of their writing ability, the evidence becomes invalid. It's no different than if they copied from a textbook or had an older sibling do the work for them.

What to Know About Your School's Policy

Your school is likely in one of three places right now:

• No policy yet: The gray area. This means you have an opportunity to be part of the conversation and help shape the guidelines.

• Strict "no use" policy: Your school may have taken a cautious approach, restricting all use of AI in student work. This means you need to be very clear with students about where and when it is not allowed.

• Guiding principles or a "disclosure" policy: This is the most common and forward-thinking approach. Many schools are creating policies that don't ban AI but require students to disclose when and how they used it. This shifts the focus from "did you use it?" to "how did you use it responsibly?"

This type of policy allows teachers to have richer, more meaningful conversations with students about academic integrity, responsible use, and what it means to be a modern learner. It moves us away from being a "gotcha" authority and into a role of mentor and guide.

Your Role as an Educator

Your job isn't to be an AI detective. The best way to ensure authenticity is not to rely on flawed detection software, but to know your students and their work.

• Design for Authenticity: Create assessments that are AI-resistant by their nature. This could include in-class writing tasks, oral presentations, requiring a documentation log of the writing process, or having students incorporate recent class discussions that an AI wouldn't have access to.

• Talk to Your Students: Be transparent about your expectations. Have a conversation about the difference between using AI as a thought partner (green light) versus a ghostwriter (red light).

• Know Your School's Stance: Don't just assume. Find out what your school's official stance is on AI use for both teachers and students. If there isn't one, start a conversation with your leadership team.

The reality is, our students will need to use AI in their future careers. Our goal is to teach them to be responsible, ethical users, not to simply prohibit a tool that is already a part of their world.