Elon AI hosts panel on academic integrity

Elon University’s AI initiative held a panel on April 21 seeking to explore the use of AI and academic integrity. 

The panel, held in Sankey Hall, featured a mix of faculty and students including Ariela Marcus-Sells, professor of religious studies; Ben Hannam, associate professor of communication design; Elizabeth Von Briesen, assistant professor of computer science; and Vladimir Bratic, associate professor at Hollins University; alongside students Anya Bratic and Joshua Franklin. Moderating the panel were two seniors, Ethan Riscovallez and Kennedy Jones. The central question: “What does academic integrity mean for you? What are the biggest challenges and opportunities that come with AI?”

Mustafa Akben, assistant professor of management and director of AI Integration at Elon University, noted that the panel is part of an “emerging and ongoing conversation between faculty and students.” He added that the voices of students who were consistently navigating this murky landscape are integral.

“I believe that academic integrity with the rise of AI is not a top-down process but a dialogue needed among students and professors, openly and transparently,” said Akben.

The faculty members painted a picture familiar to educators everywhere: a mixture of cautious curiosity, deep-seated unease and possibilities for the future of education.

Student panelists Anya Bratic and Joshua Franklin also shared student perspectives on how AI is used in real coursework, the pressures of disclosure and the confusion students face navigating inconsistent expectations across courses. One point that Bratic and Franklin brought up was the idea that students also dislike it when their peers utilize AI to gain unfair advantages on assignments, not following the academic honesty set by the professors.

As the event drew to a close, attendees could take home an “AI Integrity Booklet,” a concrete result of Elon AI initiative’s effort containing guidelines, best practices and collected perspectives from university resources. The dialogue in Sankey Hall didn’t offer definitive answers, but it highlighted a shared acknowledgment of the complex, perhaps fundamentally different, future that awaits ahead of us.

For updates and more AI-related programming, follow @ElonAI on social media and stay tuned to upcoming events at www.elon.edu/ai