General Principles

• Use AI as a tool, never as a crutch. If AI helps you to learn effectively, then by all means use it. But learning a new subject is always difficult; do not try to use AI to bypass the hard parts.
• Never pass off AI-generated work as your own. Any work that you should be turn in should be yours, not a chatbot's.
• Use of AI is optional. Millions of people have learned mathematics without AI. If you don't like AI, don't use it.
• You are responsible for following the intent of these rules. I haven't tried to anticipate every technicality, no looking for loopholes! If you choose to use AI, it is your responsibility to understand these guidelines and ask questions if needed.
• Use AI at your own risk. AI is capable of giving confident answers that are totally wrong.

Assignment-Specific Guidelines

• Homeworks: Do not input assigned homework questions into AI, until after it is due. If you want to see how the AI solves typical problems, you are welcome to ask it questions other than those which were assigned. Similarly, the ability to check your work yourself is an important one to develop.
• Quizzes/Exams: No AI use allowed.
• Essays/Term Papers: To be determined. (No essays or term papers will be assigned in Fall 2026.)
• Crib Sheets: AI use is allowed, but no wholesale verbatim copying. Read what it says, check it and make sure you understand it, and then write in your own words.

Communication

• Please write your own emails to me. Using AI to write emails is, in my opinion, impolite.
• Don't ask me to read AI-generated output. There are exceptions—for example, if you study an AI response in detail and have a specific question. But please don't send me a large quantity of AI-generated output and ask me to check it.

Instructor Commitments

• I will write lecture notes myself. I will also write homework/quiz/exam questions, etc. myself, other than when I take them from the textbook.
• I will not use AI to write emails to you. If you ask me a technical question, I will not write back with “Here's what ChatGPT says...” You deserve my attention as a human.
• I will grade your work myself.
• How I might use AI: For example—for brainstorming, for formatting help, to choose a random or representative sample of textbook problems, etc.