Check your syllabus.
Most instructors will have a policy on using generative AI in class assignments, and you should be able to find that policy in your syllabus. If your instructor doesn't have a written policy or hasn't stated whether generative AI can be used for assignments, ask.
Talk with your instructor.
The best time to talk with your instructor is before you begin your assignment to avoid needing to start over if generative AI isn't allowed.
Be specific in how you plan to use generative AI. Would you like to use ChatGPT to help brainstorm ideas or come up with a topic for your assignment? Are you using it to summarize or explain complex concepts? Or do you plan to use it for writing and editing? Be prepared that your instructor may approve some use cases but not others.
Have a plan for giving credit. APA Style, MLA Style, and Chicago Style all have guidelines for citing generative AI. Your instructor may also ask for an "acknowledgement statement" that includes the prompts that you provided to ChatGPT or the full transcript of your interaction.
Academic integrity refers to maintaining a standard of honest and ethical behavior in all types of academic work. This includes things like not cheating on exams or turning in a term paper that you didn't write yourself. It also includes plagiarism, or not giving proper credit to other people's ideas or work.
Don't present AI-generated material as your own original work. While certain assignments might allow you to leverage AI to enhance your creative capabilities, it should not replace genuine creative thinking, especially in an educational setting. Whenever you incorporate content generated by AI, remember to include proper citations. This way, instructors can easily trace the sources of the AI-generated content.
Some instructors might use tools that claim to be able to detect whether a text was written by generative AI. However, those tools are not always accurate. They give both false negatives and false positives.
Dr. Lyndon Walker gives some useful advice in this video: What to do if you are falsely accused of cheating with AI.