Sciences Po, a prestigious university in France, has implemented a ban on the use of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence-based chatbot that generates text in response to prompts.
The move is aimed at preventing academic fraud and plagiarism among students and faculty.
The university communicated the ban in an email to all students and faculty and stated that ChatGPT and other similar tools cannot be used for any written work or presentations without the supervision of a course leader and proper referencing.
“Without transparent referencing, students are forbidden to use the software for the production of any written work or presentations, except for specific course purposes, with the supervision of a course leader,” Sciences Po said, though it did not specify how it would track usage.
“The ChatGPT software is raising important questions for educators and researchers all around the world, with regards to fraud in general, and particularly plagiarism,” it said.
Sciences Po also warned that violators may face severe punishment, including expulsion from the university and potentially from higher education in France.
This ban follows similar actions taken by public schools in the United States and universities announcing plans to decrease the use of take-home assessments in favor of hand-written essays and oral exams.
