How School's AI Steering Committees Can Balance Academic Integrity and AI

As AI becomes a fundamental part of modern life, schools and universities are facing a pivotal moment. The question is no longer whether AI should be used, but how. Educational institutions are working on finding a balance between embracing AI to prepare students for the future and upholding the integrity of academic work with its ban. Many are establishing AI Steering Committees tasked to help them find this balance, ensuring AI’s integration supports both innovation and ethical standards.

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What Is an AI Steering Committee?

With the rapid growth of AI in education, leading institutions like  UBC, CSU, and Oxford University have established AI Steering Committees. These committees bring together professors, deans, provosts, directors, faculty and other academic leaders to explore the impact of AI on education. Their primary role is to investigate and assess the risks and opportunities AI presents for students and staff, providing guidance and recommendations on how AI should be integrated into teaching and learning practices.

By considering diverse perspectives, AI Steering Committees can ensure that AI is leveraged responsibly while preserving academic integrity. Their recommendations are vital as institutions navigate this new era of technology in education.

Current Concerns

We’re seeing a clear division in how institutions are responding to AI. On one side, many schools are eager to adopt AI tools to stay ahead in this era of innovation. On the other, some institutions are firm in their decision to ban AI entirely, concerned that it will spoil students’ critical thinking and individual learning skills.

Both approaches have valid points. Those who advocate for banning AI emphasize the importance of ensuring students can think for themselves without relying on technology. However, completely banning AI can leave students at a disadvantage compared to their peers at institutions where AI literacy is being nurtured. As AI becomes more integrated into various industries, students who lack AI skills will find themselves lagging behind.

In the end, the challenge is to find a way to balance these competing perspectives. Instead of taking extreme positions, schools need to find a middle ground that fosters both critical thinking and AI literacy.

In the following sections, we will examine the advantages and disadvantages of each approach at both ends of the spectrum.

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Promoting Academic Integrity Only 

Institutions that have chosen to ban AI emphasize the importance of academic integrity. For them, allowing AI in academic work opens the door to plagiarism, dishonesty, and shortcuts that undermine the educational process. They argue that students should be demonstrating their own knowledge, individuality, and critical thinking abilities, and AI tools can distort this. It is in fact a great way to:

• Ensure students are using their full potential and knowledge without cheating or any outside help.
• Make sure that all students are working at the same level, and no one gets to use any tool where they may be more familiar with or gives them an advantage over the others.
  
  

However, this hardline approach has its own drawbacks and is difficult to impose in today’s reality. Banning AI entirely doesn’t mean students won’t find ways to use; it would create an unfair dynamic where dishonest students are at advantage. It would also create an environment where the professor doubts every work that is put in front of them. This can lead to situations where:

• Dishonest or wealthier students may access more advanced and premium AI tools that can fly under the radar, helping them receive higher grades, while honest students or those using free and open-source tools may struggle to keep up and face lower grades. 
• Relying solely on AI detectors, which have proven to be unreliable, can result in false accusations, unfairly punishing students who have not used AI at all.
• Unfair and biased accusations from professors making decisions relying on nothing but their knowledge to determine whether or not a student used AI in their paper.

These lead to an unfair playing field, breaking down key pillars of academic integrity, such as fairness, honesty and trust. Some professors have claimed they can identify whether a student has used AI simply by reading their work. This can lead to situations where it's the professor’s word against the student’s, with no solid proof of wrongdoing. This power imbalance could allow favoritism to come into play, where professors might be more lenient with students they favor, while unfairly accusing students they don’t like, leading to inconsistent and biased judgments. It is important for institutions to do everything in their power to avoid facing these issues. True academic integrity is about creating an environment of trust and responsibility. Simply banning AI may not achieve that. Instead, institutions need a more nuanced approach and provide every student with the same opportunities.

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Promoting AI Literacy Only

As technology advances, AI literacy is becoming as essential as digital literacy. Forward-thinking institutions recognize that students need to develop a strong understanding of how AI works, how it can be used responsibly, and how it will impact their future careers. AI literacy will soon be as important as knowing how to use a computer, and schools that deny students access to AI are setting them up to fall behind. Institutions that prioritize AI literacy understand that these tools are not a threat to learning but a way to enhance it. AI can be a powerful educational tool when used correctly.  Promoting the use of AI can have it benefits:

• Increase efficiency, enhance student support and engagement and personalize the learning experience.
• Can help students organize their thoughts, generate ideas, and even enhance their writing skills. 
• Setting standards on ethical and effective use of AI in education and outside. 

By banning AI outright, schools risk widening the gap between students who have access to AI tools and those who don’t. Institutions that foster AI literacy are equipping their students with the skills they need to thrive in the future.

On the other spectrum, allowing an uncontrolled and unmonitored use of AI can lead to many issues such as:

• Over reliance on AI tools, where students now become unable to function without any tool help.
• Increased cases of students submitting work fully completed by AI machines.
• Inequity, where students from different backgrounds can access more advanced tools behind paying, further widening inequality in education.
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Focusing solely on AI literacy comes with its own set of challenges. If students are only trained to use AI without developing broader knowledge and critical thinking skills, we will reach a point where we would ask: Why hire the human when the AI can do the same job? If students' primary skill set is limited to the operation of AI tools, they may lack the essential abilities that set humans apart: creativity, problem-solving, and independent thinking. Without these crucial human skills, students risk becoming replaceable by the very technology they are learning to leverage.

The key is to find a balance. Empowering students with AI literacy while maintaining academic integrity and teaching essential skills like critical thinking and creativity. Schools must take an active role in guiding students on how to use AI responsibly, ensuring that they are prepared for a future where AI will play a pivotal role in every industry.

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Why You Need Both AI Literacy and Academic Integrity

Balance is critical and equity is important. No institution should have to choose between promoting academic integrity and fostering AI literacy. Both are essential to preparing students for the future. We’ve spoken with over 1,000 educators and instructional designers across the U.S. and internationally, and the overwhelming feedback is that both sides of the debate hold valid concerns. The answer lies not in choosing one over the other but in finding a way to integrate both into the learning process.

AI policies should not be one-size-fits-all. Instead, they should be flexible, allowing educators to set guidelines based on the needs of their course and assignments. It’s important for institutions to create a framework that allows for this flexibility while ensuring fairness and consistency across the board. Managing AI access and regulations for assignments in one platform ensures equity and equal opportunities for all students. Without proper oversight, allowing unrestricted AI use can create an unfair advantage for students who can afford premium AI tools, leading to better performance and higher grades.

Meanwhile, their peers relying on free or open-source tools may struggle to keep up, widening the achievement gap. By ensuring equal access to AI tools for all students, institutions can create a level playing field where academic success is not determined by financial privilege.

When all students have the same opportunities to use AI, the focus shifts from who has access to the best, most expensive tools, to the quality of their individual effort and learning. This not only promotes fairness but also upholds the core values of academic integrity by preventing wealthier students from gaining an unfair advantage. In doing so, schools can foster an environment where students are evaluated on their true abilities and understanding, rather than on their access to premium AI tools, ensuring that education remains equitable and just for everyone.

That’s where Rumi can help. Rumi provides schools with the tools they need to set and manage AI policies at the assignment level all in one platform. Whether it’s restricting AI use, allowing partial integration, or embracing AI fully, Rumi enables educators to maintain academic integrity while fostering AI literacy and providing equal access to all. With features like AI tracking and insights into the writing process, Rumi offers a comprehensive solution for managing AI in the classroom.

Implement AI Policies with an AIAI platform

AI and academic integrity don’t need to be at odds. With the right approach, schools can foster AI literacy while maintaining ethical standards. If you’re ready to find that balance and implement effective AI policies, Rumi can help your institution in navigating the future of AI in education..

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Watch Foothill College's testimonial on how Rumi is helping them manage their AI policies.

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