By Lungile Ntimba
The University of Cape Town’s Senate Teaching and Learning Committee has endorsed a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education Framework to guide the responsible and ethical use of AI technologies in teaching and learning.
Prof. Brandon Collier-Reed, who is a deputy vice-chancellor in teaching and learning, said the recent decision was driven by the growing integration of AI tools into everyday academic and professional life.
“Staff and students are using tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini in innovative and productive ways; while at other times these technologies present significant challenges, requiring us to rethink teaching pedagogies, assessment practices and the fundamentals of what a university experience should be and what our qualifications should signify in a changing world,” Collier-Reed said in a statement.
The framework, which focuses primarily on generative AI, provides overarching principles for ethical and responsible use.
It also promotes three core pillars for engagement, including promoting AI literacy among staff and students, ensuring integrity in assessment practices, and investing in AI-enabled innovations in teaching, learning, and curriculum design.
According to Collier-Reed, these pillars served as a roadmap for short- and medium-term activities, while clarifying the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders involved in implementing the framework.
“Responding to AI in teaching and learning will require the commitment of the entire teaching and learning community as we come together to shape our future with intention and integrity,” he said.
He added that the endorsement followed an extensive engagement process involving faculties, support departments, student representatives and the university’s AI Initiative.
“Some key messages from the consultations were to foreground academic integrity practices, ensure equity for staff and students in accessing AI technologies in teaching and learning, and promote staff and student AI literacies and capabilities.”
In a related development, Collier-Reed said the Senate Teaching and Learning Committee had also agreed to discontinue the use of Turnitin AI Score, an automated detection tool that flagged potentially AI-generated content in student submissions.
“AI detection tools are widely considered to be unreliable and can produce both false positives and false negatives. The continued use of such scores risks compromising student trust and academic fairness.”
This feature in plagiarism checker Turnitin would no longer be available at UCT from 1 October 2025.
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