Course Policy¶
Late Submissions¶
With the exception of medical and other compelling reasons, no late submissions will be accepted after the deadline. Considering possible connectivity and technical issues that occur from time to time, students are advised to complete/submit course deliverables (such as assignments and quizzes) at least a few hours in advance of the deadline. High workload from other courses and poor time management on the part of the student will not be accepted as valid reasons for late submission. For any special circumstances that justify late submission of course deliverables, students must notify the course instructor at least one week prior to the deadline of the deliverable to arrange a special accommodation.
Basic Code of Conduct¶
The University is committed to maintaining teaching and learning spaces that are respectful and inclusive for all. To this end, offensive, violent, or harmful language arising in contexts such as the following may be cause for disciplinary action:
- Zoom sessions, including Username (use only your legal or preferred name), virtual backgrounds, “chat” boxes, whiteboard annotations, breakout rooms
- myCourses discussion forum
Policy on AI Use for Assignment Submissions¶
The use of advanced AI tools such as ChatGPT are accepted and encouraged in this course provided that students follow the policy outlined below.
These systems can add the value of efficiency when it is used by those with a sufficient degree of expertise in and expected outcomes from the task being assisted by AI (e.g., start a rough draft of an email where the user has a clear idea of what it should say and how it should sound). However, when blindly used by those who do not have such expertise, it can be detrimental to the user's learning, contribute to dissemination of disinformation and falsehoods among many others. Today, it is still the users, not the designers who hold responsibility for the negative outcomes.
As a course on responsible AI, students who choose to use the assistance of AI toward their assignment(s) do so while being reflective of its use on their learning and the course outcome. For every assignment assisted by AI, students must include an assignment pre-amble that contains the following: - Declare the system used (e.g., ChatGPT v3.5) - A detailed list of tasks completed with the system (e.g., Asked ChatGPT to list the top 5 AI safety researchers in the world, so that I can read up on their work.) - For each task, describe the known/expected limitations of the particular system most pertinent to the task, and what you've done to correct for or finalize the assignment. (e.g., The system only has information up to Sept. 2021, which means the query results don't reflect the people who became global leaders in the topic afterwards, and its training dataset is known to be biased. The term "AI safety" is also used to mean a wide range of topics ranging from technical remedies to create safe AI to international governance of AI. To remedy this limitation, I went to the Web of Science and looked for the most cited papers with "AI safety" as a keyword across all time, and then again within the 2021-2023 publication timeframe.) - A short reflection on how your overall use of the system affected your overall learning or goals in completing the assignment (e.g., Although I didn't end up using ChatGPT's responses, the system helped me just to get started on this assignment I've been procrastinating on. It also made me aware of the level of bias I can expect in some of my vaguely phrased queries such as ...)
The use of AI system will not affect the final grading of the submitted assignment, unless this policy is violated or clearly abused (e.g,. thoughtless descriptions of the tasks, remedies, and reflection statements).
University Policy¶
In the event of extraordinary circumstances beyond the University’s control, the content and/or evaluation scheme in this course is subject to change.
Language of submission¶
“In accord with McGill University’s Charter of Student Rights, students in this course have the right to submit in English or in French written work that is to be graded. This does not apply to courses in which acquiring proficiency in a language is one of the objectives.” (Approved by Senate on 21 January 2009)
« Conformément à la Charte des droits de l’étudiant de l’Université McGill, chaque étudiant a le droit de soumettre en français ou en anglais tout travail écrit devant être noté, sauf dans le cas des cours dont l’un des objets est la maîtrise d’une langue. » (Énoncé approuvé par le Sénat le 21 janvier 2009)
Academic integrity¶
“McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore, all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures.” (Approved by Senate on 29 January 2003) (See McGill’s guide to academic honesty for more information.)
« L'université McGill attache une haute importance à l’honnêteté académique. Il incombe par conséquent à tous les étudiants de comprendre ce que l'on entend par tricherie, plagiat et autres infractions académiques, ainsi que les conséquences que peuvent avoir de telles actions, selon le Code de conduite de l'étudiant et des procédures disciplinaires. » (Énoncé approuvé par le Sénat le 29 janvier 2003) (pour de plus amples renseignements, veuillez consulter le guide pour l’honnêteté académique de McGill.)
Additional Notes¶
Many students may face mental health challenges that can impact not only their academic success but also their ability to thrive in our campus community. Please reach out for support when you need it; many resources are available on-campus, off-campus, and online.
© Instructor-generated course materials (e.g., handouts, notes, summaries, exam questions) are protected by law and may not be copied or distributed in any form or in any medium without explicit permission of the instructor. Note that copyright infringements can be subject to follow-up by the University under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures.
As the instructor of this course, I endeavor to provide an inclusive learning environment. However, if you experience barriers to learning in this course, do not hesitate to discuss them with me and/or the Office for Students with Disabilities.
Content warning: Please be aware that some of the course content may be disturbing or uncomfortable for you. This content has been included in the course because it directly relates to the learning outcomes. Please contact me if you have specific concerns about this.