Updated ,first published
A senior academic from the University of Western Sydney has admitted to using artificial intelligence to write his opinion The Sydney Morning Herald which advocated the use of AI in universities.
Professor Cath Ellis, pro vice-chancellor for quality and integrity, argued in her article that prospective students should have faith in the higher education system despite concerns that the system is being degraded by AI reliance.
He presented it in response to an earlier piece by Kylie Moore-Gilbert of Macquarie University that claimed it universities were engaging in “widespread, industrial fraud” by accepting money from students and giving them degrees they didn’t get because they were taking their ideas to AI.
But WSU acknowledged in response to questions that Ellis’s response published Sunday was itself generated by AI, and was based on its own previous research in the field.
“To write his opinion piece, Professor Ellis uploaded 40,000 words of his original material into the Copilot Large Language Model (LLM),” a university spokesman said.
“The style summarized his vast knowledge base, providing clues. This was the basis of early drafts, reflecting Professor Ellis’s thoughts, ideas and opinions built on more than a decade of dedicated work as an international leader in the field.”
He shared his piece with the WSU media team, which also used AI tools to suggest improvements, and the piece went through several revisions before submission, a spokesperson said.
“No other expert could integrate this knowledge base, or add understanding, skills and perspectives to this cutting-edge space,” the university said.
“The LLM’s use of its own expertise, experience and intellectual fortitude demonstrates the modern and appropriate use of GenAI. It demonstrates WSU’s institutional position for human-centered AI.”
Students needed to be equipped for a world that includes AI and the feedback piece presented by Ellis showed that “sharp thinking and creative approach”, the spokesperson said.
Nine, the publisher of this masthead, has strict editorial guidelines regarding the use of AI.
“Our employees are encouraged to be curious about AI. Therefore, journalists and editorial staff are allowed to use AI tools where there is a real benefit in doing so,” the guidelines say.
“AI will not be used to write stories for publication. AI can be used for graphics but not ‘photo-realistic images’.”
Sydney Morning Herald editor Jordan Baker said the article had been removed because it did not meet the Herald’s editorial standards.
“The Herald was not informed about the use of AI in the composition of the article by the author or the University of Western Sydney,” Baker said.
“This is clearly unacceptable and we are investigating further.”
Morning Edition Magazine is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Register here.
