AI at uni: how to use it the right way
Monday, 11 August 2025
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Know the rules, use AI wisely and protect your academic integrity.
From generating quick summaries to helping you brainstorm ideas, artificial intelligence (AI) tools are becoming part of everyday student life. Used wisely, AI can make study more efficient, help you learn faster and even inspire creative thinking.
But here’s the catch: just because AI can do something, doesn’t mean it’s OK to let it.
At ECU, the same rules of academic integrity that apply to traditional study also apply to Generative AI. That means honesty, fairness and doing your own work.
When AI helps and when it harms
AI can be a fantastic support tool, because it can:
- explain complex concepts in simpler terms;
- help you plan your assignments;
- offer writing feedback or check your grammar;
- give you ideas for research directions.
What it can’t ethically do is:
- write your assignments for you;
- complete assessments;
- produce work you then pass off as your own.
Submitting AI-generated work without permission is an academic integrity breach, just like plagiarism. It’s also risky to trust AI to write your content as it may hallucinate information or sources. This can lead to falsification or fabrication, which is also academic misconduct.
The integrity connection
Academic integrity is about more than just citing sources. It’s about being truthful in all aspects of your university life. That includes how you use AI but also extends to other areas where honesty matters, like support documentation.
One serious example is falsifying medical certificates to be used in assignment extension requests. This might mean altering an existing certificate, creating one from scratch or using AI tools to generate something that looks convincing. Even if you think 'it’s just to get a few extra days', falsifying documents is a serious breach of ECU’s integrity rules and can lead to penalties that affect your grades or enrolment.
Why it matters
The university and your future employers value skills like critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving. If AI is doing the heavy lifting, you’re missing out on building those skills. And in the case of fake documents, you’re putting your enrolment, your reputation and your career at risk.
How to use AI smartly and safely:
- Use ECU’s AI support resources, including the Academic Skills module and the Library Guide for information and guidance on ethical use and limitations.
- Make sure you’re across ECU’s academic integrity resources so you know the rules and how to avoid breaches
- Join the online Gen AI Drop-in sessions (Mondays, 2.00pm – 3.00pm) to get advice on using AI effectively and ethically
- Check your unit outline for what’s allowed – some units permit certain AI usage, while others don’t – and ask your lecturer if you’re unsure.
- Acknowledge AI assistance if you've used it (for example, in a references section or note).
- Keep it for support, not substitution – use AI to guide and improve your work, not replace it.
- Never use AI to make or alter official documents. This is misconduct, no matter the reason.
By using AI ethically, you’re not just staying within the rules – you’re building skills that will help you long after graduation