UQ rules for using AI in assessment
Summary
You can use Artificial intelligence (AI) responsibly to help you study in UQ courses, but there may be restrictions on the use of AI for in-person course assessment.
Check your course profile for each assessment item to find out if AI use is allowed. AI use will be specified for each assessment task. Check with your course coordinator if you are unsure of any requirements.
If you are allowed to use AI in the assessment task:
- Plan how you can use AI effectively to help you while ensuring you still gain the knowledge and skills expected for your course. You may decide that it is not appropriate or smart to use AI depending on the assessment task.
- Keep a record and document every use of AI for the task.
- Always acknowledge and reference any use of AI.
- Remember that you will be required to demonstrate your learning for in-person assessment, independent of AI tools.
Sections on this page:
- Checklist for planning AI use in your assessment
- What are the rules at UQ?
- Follow the rules to maintain academic integrity
- Being smart about using AI in your assessment
- How AI detection is used at UQ.
Checklist for planning AI use in your assessment
| Question | What to do |
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| 1. Do you know the guidelines on AI use for the assessment task? |
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| 2. Do you have a plan to keep track of your AI use? |
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| 3. Are you clear on your ethical standards in using AI? |
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| 4. Are you clear on discipline-specific approaches and critical thinking needed to use AI well? |
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| 5. Do you have a plan to ensure the final work submitted is your work? |
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Download the Checklist for planning AI use in your assessment (PDF, 192 KB).
This checklist is adapted from General principles for use of generative AI by University of Sydney, shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence.
What are the rules at UQ?
In your course profiles, for each assessment, you will see 1 of these 2 options:
- Cannot use AI: AI is prohibited through in-person assessment (e.g. exams, oral presentation).
- Can use AI: AI use must be referenced.
It could be viewed as cheating in an assessment task if you:
- use AI when it is not allowed
- don't acknowledge or reference your use of AI when it is allowed.
The Student Code of Conduct outlines expectations for all UQ students, including academic integrity and misconduct rules.
Can I use AI in my assessment task?
The course profile for the assessment task states:
- Cannot use AI - No - AI is prohibited during in-person assessment.
- Can use AI - Yes - AI use must be referenced.
How can I use AI in the assessment task?
Always check your course profile and course coordinator’s instructions on acknowledging and referencing AI.
Examples of possible AI use:
- Get feedback on your idea.
- Plan the structure.
- Find literature.
- Summarise the literature.
- Proofread your draft.
Can I copy and paste the content the AI tool generates into my assessment item? - No - Don't copy content into your assessment that is not your own intellectual and academic work.
Can I use AI tools to help me identify ways to improve my assessment item? - Yes - You can use AI tools to help you edit and improve your work.
Try the Using AI in your assessment activity to check your understanding:
Follow the rules to maintain academic integrity
All members of the UQ community have a responsibility to support and uphold the values of academic integrity. As a student you are a member of the UQ community.
To check if you are violating UQ’s AI rules, ask yourself these three questions for every individual assessment task:
If you answer no to any of these questions, then you could be breaking UQ’s AI rules. Why? Because:
- inappropriate use of AI is academic misconduct
- inappropriate acknowledgment of AI use is academic misconduct.
Academic misconduct is a disciplinary offence. It involves a range of unethical behaviours that give a student an unfair and unearned advantage over their peers.
When AI use is allowed in your assessments:
- You must acknowledge or reference the use of AI as outlined by the course coordinator.
- You should know AI’s limitations and always check the accuracy of any facts, references, quotes or edits generated by AI.
- You should consider the potential for biases in the AI system and review any materials generated with scepticism.
- You should check the literature in the discipline to ensure scholarly work and other’s ideas are appropriately recognised.
When using AI in your assessments, you are responsible for your learning and the work submitted.
Why rules for the use of AI matter
Rules for the use of AI ensure that all students, regardless of their background or access to advanced tools, have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their true abilities.
By preventing unfair advantages and encouraging genuine effort, UQ’s AI rules help maintain equity and protect the value of your UQ education. A degree from UQ is valuable, to protect this value it is important we work to maintain academic standards.
These rules support the ongoing trust in our academic programs, ensuring that, as a UQ graduate, you are respected for the knowledge, skills and qualities you have genuinely developed.
Being smart about using AI in your assessment
When completing your assessment, think about the purpose of the task. Then, if AI use is permitted, decide how you can use AI effectively and appropriately.
Understanding the aim of an assessment task can help you respond more effectively and engage with integrity, ensuring the work that matters is your own.
Thinking about ownership of your learning and assessments is important in the age of AI.
"I guess you need to have a little bit of ego in there. You have to be like - no, my thoughts are better and you know it comes from me. … it's my work. If it's not coming from me, if it's just somebody else or collecting information for me, then it's not really me."
Mam, UQ focus group 2024.
Using AI in some tasks may undermine your ability to do the work yourself. For example, some assessment tasks might be designed to test your ability to:
- write in a particular style
- code
- solve an equation
- read and summarise literature
- critique a theory, artwork, or creative performance
- recall and apply essential knowledge quickly.
While AI might be able to complete tasks for you, it is your responsibility to spend the time on learning and then completing the assessment for yourself.
Even if AI is permitted, you have to decide it is smarter to study first and then use AI to test your knowledge or check your work.
AI can support your study when used well. Remember that you will be required to demonstrate your learning for in-person assessment, independent of AI tools.
Examples of appropriate and inappropriate use of AI
| Type of assessment | Examples of appropriate use of AI | Examples of inappropriate use of AI |
|---|---|---|
| Essay or report |
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| Presentation |
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| Coding |
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| Numerical or problem set |
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AI detection at UQ
From semester 2, 2025 UQ is no longer using any AI detection tools. The Turnitin AI detection tool in Learn.UQ has been disabled.
UQ students shared confusion about the effectiveness of AI detection software and how such tools are used at UQ in the Student Perspectives on AI in Higher Education project.
Keep records of your work
It is good practice to always keep careful records of the work you did to complete an assessment task. For example, keep notes and early drafts, annotated reference sources, and perhaps also use version control on drafts. This way, if you are suspected of any form of misconduct, you will have evidence to support that you did the required work.
Secure (in-person or supervised) assessment
To reduce our need to detect misuse of AI, UQ is shifting to a more secure assessment approach where the assessment task is completed in-person and the use of generative Artificial intelligence (AI) will not be permitted. Students may appropriately use AI where UQ cannot secure assessment tasks.