General Discussion

it isn't inherently cheating unless specifically authorized.

Any course syllabus, these days, should address the use of generative AI. But not every teacher/professor updates their syllabi. So, in the absence of express authorization or prohibition, the question of whether it is cheating will depend on the wording of the syllabi and/or the school's code of conduct. But using AI is no more inherently cheating than the use of calculators was in the mid- to late-70s, or the use of spell/grammar-check was a decade later. When new technology is introduced, those in education should adapt their syllabi to address its use so that there are no misunderstandings about what is permitted. And, if there is any question, students should ask. But a blanket statement that it is cheating unless specifically authorized isn't, in my experience as both educator and student, not accurate.

I used AI (trained exclusively on licensed images) to generate a base image that I used in a recent art project. The syllabus for the course was silent on the use of AI, as was the school's code of conduct. As long as I did not claim the image I generated as my own, using AI as a component of the project was consistent with the both the school's code of conduct and the course syllabus.

That said - I followed my own advice and expressly obtain permission to use it. As a result of the conversations we had around how I intended to use AI, the instructor has asked my permission to use the piece for future classes as an example of good use of AI as a tool, and will likely change the syllabus to explicitly address it.