ABA Journal, Is Unauthorized Artificial Intelligence Use in Law School an Honor Code Violation?:
With generative artificial intelligence’s growing availability and acceptance into students’ workflow, some law schools are wondering whether unauthorized AI use should be an honor code violation—something that could potentially trip up aspiring lawyers in the character and fitness portion of the bar licensure process.
Unauthorized use of AI, seen as a type of plagiarism, has raised questions at the Stetson University College of Law in Florida regarding how best to handle the possible academic misconduct.
“We have certainly been having issues with students using generative AI in a way that the faculty member does not view as appropriate,” says Benjamin Barros, the Florida law school’s dean. “I certainly don’t want students to find themselves in honor code situations inadvertently.” …
The problem stems from unclear AI policies within law schools and universities, says Daniel W. Linna Jr., a senior lecturer and the director of law and technology initiatives at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in Illinois.
These cases “illustrate why these policies are problematic,” says Linna, a 2018 Journal Legal Rebel.
The vast majority of policies that Linna has seen at law schools don’t draw firm lines between what is and what isn’t acceptable. “If you have a policy that you cannot use generative AI to do substantive course work and a student does a Google search, are they supposed to avert their eyes?” he says. “That’s generative AI at the top of the page.” …
The University of California at Berkeley School of Law’s policy specifically states that generative AI may not be used for anything that would be considered plagiarism if humans were involved and “may not be used for any purpose in any exam situation.” …
Along with clear AI policies, says Kellye Testy, the executive director and CEO of the Association of American Law Schools, the solution includes solid ethical training for law students to use AI before entering the workplace, where comfort with the tool will be expected.
“I’ve seen a real seismic shift in the last year in terms of the schools really getting in there and understanding that they need to clarify things for their students and see AI as a tool they need to understand and use properly,” says Testy, a 2022 Journal Legal Rebel.
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