Using AI in CS 169A
Draft
This policy is a draft for Fall 2026 and may be revised before and during the semester. The version on this page is authoritative; changes will be announced on Ed.
Table of contents
Philosophy
Modern software engineering increasingly involves AI programming assistants — and this is a software engineering course. Our goal is for you to graduate able to use these tools well: to direct them, review their output critically, and take responsibility for the resulting code. At the same time, the point of the CHIPS and the module content is for you to build durable skills. If an AI tool does the learning for you, you will feel it on the quizzes and the final exam, which are taken in person without AI assistance.
The golden rule from the Syllabus applies: you may never take credit for work you do not understand. Copy-pasting code from an AI assistant without understanding it is treated exactly like copy-pasting it from a classmate or StackOverflow.
What is allowed
- Using AI tools to explain course concepts, error messages, or unfamiliar syntax (treat the output skeptically — models are often confidently wrong about Rails specifics).
- Using AI tools as a study partner: generating practice questions, summarizing readings, quizzing yourself.
What is not allowed
- Submitting AI-generated work you do not understand, on any assignment.
- Using AI tools during quizzes, the orientation quiz, or the final exam. These are administered in the CBTF, where AI tools are unavailable.
- Uploading course materials (assignment handouts, autograder tests, quiz or exam questions, solutions) to AI services, or using them to train public models — the same rule as for Chegg/CourseHero applies.
- Presenting AI output as your own analysis in written deliverables (e.g., project retrospectives, peer evaluations).
Disclosure
If you use AI tools on an assignment where they are permitted, you must be prepared to explain any part of your submission, and you may be asked to disclose how you used them.
On the final project
The final project (CHIP 10.5) simulates a real Agile team. Your team may agree on how to use AI tools within the boundaries above, but every team member is responsible for understanding the code the team ships — code review does not stop being your job because a model wrote the first draft.
Questions?
If you are unsure whether a specific use of an AI tool is permitted, ask first — post privately on Ed or ask in office hours. “I wasn’t sure so I asked” is always a good look; “I wasn’t sure so I did it anyway” is not.