Sydney academic used AI to write SMH opinion piece urging students to avoid using tech to ‘cut corners’

A spokesperson for Western Sydney University said Cath Ellis ‘uploaded 40,000 words of her own original materials into a Copilot Large Language Model’ to form the basis of early drafts for her Sydney Morning Herald piece. Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian View image in fullscreen A spokesperson for Western Sydney University said Cath Ellis ‘uploaded 40,000 words of her own original materials into a Copilot Large Language Model’ to form the basis of early drafts for her Sydney Morning Herald piece. Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian Sydney academic used AI to write SMH opinion piece urging students to avoid using tech to ‘cut corners’ Sydney Morning Herald removes piece by Cath Ellis, despite Western Sydney University saying her use of AI was ‘appropriate’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A top Sydney academic used AI to write an opinion piece that urged students to “do the work” and not cut corners by using such technology, with the Sydney Morning Herald removing the “unacceptable” piece from its website. Western Sydney University’s pro vice-chancellor for quality and integrity, Prof Cath Ellis, had an opinion piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald last month, in response to an article from the academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert . Moore-Gilbert had written that she had advised her stepdaughter to think twice before enrolling in university as students could easily outsource their learning to AI, saying students were “being graded on who can write the best AI prompts”. US students on why they booed their pro-AI graduation speakers: ‘They’re not reading the room’ Read more In response, Ellis wrote in her piece that the “AI problem is real”, but students should still go to university and study properly. “Don’t cut corners. Don’t outsource your thinking, however tempting that may be. If the system is as fragile as some claim, then genuine effort will not be hidden. It will stand out,” she wrote. However, the column, when submitted to AI-detector service Pangram , came up as 100% AI-generated. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email In response to questions from Guardian Australia, the university said Ellis had used AI in writing the column. “To write her opinion article, Prof. Ellis uploaded 40,000 words of her own original materials into a Copilot Large Language Model (LLM). The model summarised her extensive base of knowledge, providing prompts,” the spokesperson said. “This was the basis of the early drafts, reflecting Prof. Ellis’s own thinking, ideas and opinions built up over more than a decade of dedicated work as a global leader in this field.” The spokesperson said the use of an LLM to draw on her own expertise and experience “demonstrates a sophisticated and appropriate use” of generative AI. “Programs like Pangram can detect AI use, but they cannot determine whether that use was appropriate or inappropriate,” the spokesperson said. “The University be