{"id":84645,"topic":"ai","source":"lawcommentary.com","title":"Boston University Adds AI-Free Writing Requirement for English Majors - lawcommentary.com","url":"https://www.lawcommentary.com/articles/boston-university-ai-free-writing-requirement-english-majors","url_hash":"268875bf37689c2d88c533e6f55cf3a260620970","author":"","summary":"Boston University Adds AI-Free Writing Requirement for English Majors lawcommentary.com","content":"The Seattle Times and Newsday have sued OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the companies of copying hundreds of thousands of articles without permission to train AI systems and asking a federal court to destroy models and training datasets that incorporate their journalism.The copyright infringement lawsuit, filed September 4 in the U.S.... Read More »\nBoston University Adds AI-Free Writing Requirement for English Majors\nBoston University has added an AI-free writing requirement for English majors, with newly approved learning outcomes calling on students to demonstrate that they can produce sustained, original writing without artificial intelligence.\nAssociate Professor of English Joseph Rezek said Wednesday that faculty recently voted to approve the updated outcomes. One provision requires students to “craft and revise writing that is sustained, original, and generated without the assistance of AI.”\nThe change makes independent writing a formal competency for students completing the English major as colleges nationwide continue to determine how tools such as ChatGPT should fit into writing, research, and other academic work.\nThe new outcome applies at the program level, defining a skill English graduates are expected to demonstrate. Faculty members will continue setting rules for AI use in individual courses and assignments.\nBoston University’s academic conduct rules give those decisions additional weight. Under a revised Academic Conduct Code that took effect July 1, AI use that has not been expressly authorized by an instructor can constitute academic misconduct.\nStudents found responsible for violations can face sanctions including grade reductions, suspension and, in serious cases, expulsion. The English requirement addresses a separate question by identifying independent writing as one of the abilities expected of students earning the degree.\nThe department’s move comes as Boston University continues to build generative AI into other parts of its academic strategy.\nA university task force recommended in 2024 that BU “critically embrace” generative AI, support AI literacy among students and faculty, and allow academic units to develop policies suited to their disciplines. It also encouraged instructors to connect any restrictions on AI to specific learning objectives.\nThe university has since supported AI-focused teaching across several programs. BU offers an AI Literacy for Writing course that teaches students to work with generative AI while remaining responsible for their writing, and other university initiatives have incorporated the technology into subjects including advertising and language instruction.\nWithin that broader framework, the English Department has now identified writing without AI assistance as a core skill for its majors.\nThe change is new enough that BU’s central academic bulletin still displayed the English major’s previous learning outcomes Wednesday. Those requirements cover literary analysis, interpretation, research and writing but do not yet include the new AI language.\nRezek characterized the newly approved language as an “anti-AI provision” when announcing the faculty vote.\nThe department has not yet detailed how the outcome will be assessed across the English curriculum. Its adoption gives students a new benchmark for completing the major as universities continue to define where artificial intelligence belongs in college writing.\nRelated Articles\nCalifornia lawmakers have approved legislation that would impose new requirements on attorneys who use generative artificial intelligence, including verifying AI-generated work, disclosing its use in court filings, and protecting confidential client information.Senate Bill 574, known as the Court A.I. Protection Act, passed the Legislature and was sent to Gov. Gavin... Read More »\nOpenAI says an artificial intelligence system has solved one of mathematics' most famous unsolved problems, but a dispute involving two mathematicians who used the company's Codex tool is raising a separate question: what happens when researchers share unpublished work with an AI platform that is also developing competing research capabilities?The... Read More »\nAI-generated music is facing new restrictions across streaming services and official charts as the recording industry begins setting rules for how artificial intelligence is disclosed and whether AI-made songs can compete for chart positions.Australia’s ARIA Charts began excluding wholly AI-generated tracks from its Aug. 31 ranking, while the International Federation... Read More »\nHollywood and TikTok parent company ByteDance have reached an agreement aimed at strengthening copyright protections across the company’s generative AI products, following months of tension over the use of film and television intellectual property. The Motion Picture Association and ByteDance announced Monday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding... Read More »","image_url":"https://lawcommentary.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/.cache/articles/01M2PQ820XY4D6EFJP2D06DTKD.jpeg/b95eeb9080ace9b9","lang":"en","published_at":"2026-09-17T14:47:56+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-09-17T15:15:05+00:00","status":"read","starred":0,"extract_state":"ok","summary_auto":"The Seattle Times and Newsday have sued OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the companies of copying hundreds of thousands of articles without permission to train AI systems and asking a federal court to destroy models and training datasets that incorporate their journalism.The copyright infringement lawsuit, filed September 4 in the U.S.... Read More »\nBoston University Adds AI-Free Writing Requirement for English Majors\nBoston University has added an AI-free writing requirement for English majors, with newly approved learning outcomes calling on students to demonstrate that they can produce sustained, original writing without artificial intelligence.","cluster_id":null,"extract_retries":0,"extract_error":null,"contract_version":"news_item.v1","format_contract_version":"news_item_formats.v1","dedup_url":"https://www.lawcommentary.com/articles/boston-university-ai-free-writing-requirement-english-majors","quality_profile":{"profile_version":"extraction_quality.v2","bucket":"high","confidence":0.9,"failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"retry_after_attempts":0,"reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4952 characters.","operator_guidance":{"severity":"ok","recommended_action":"trust_full_text","next_step":"Use the extracted full text as the primary article source.","operator_label":"Ready","can_retry":false,"can_use_summary":false,"diagnostics_required":false},"content_depth":{"contract_version":"content_depth.v1","category":"full_text","label":"Full text","has_full_text":true,"has_summary":true,"content_length":4952,"summary_length":655,"usable_text_length":4952,"source_field":"content"},"legacy_collapsed":false,"signals":{"extract_state":"ok","extract_error":null,"extract_retries":0,"content_length":4952,"summary_length":655}},"news_item":{"id":84645,"canonical_url":"https://www.lawcommentary.com/articles/boston-university-ai-free-writing-requirement-english-majors","source_url":"https://www.lawcommentary.com/articles/boston-university-ai-free-writing-requirement-english-majors","title":"Boston University Adds AI-Free Writing Requirement for English Majors - lawcommentary.com","source_name":"lawcommentary.com","author":null,"published_at":"2026-09-17T14:47:56+00:00","locale":"en","topic":"ai","tags":[],"rss_summary":"Boston University Adds AI-Free Writing Requirement for English Majors lawcommentary.com","full_text":"The Seattle Times and Newsday have sued OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the companies of copying hundreds of thousands of articles without permission to train AI systems and asking a federal court to destroy models and training datasets that incorporate their journalism.The copyright infringement lawsuit, filed September 4 in the U.S.... Read More »\nBoston University Adds AI-Free Writing Requirement for English Majors\nBoston University has added an AI-free writing requirement for English majors, with newly approved learning outcomes calling on students to demonstrate that they can produce sustained, original writing without artificial intelligence.\nAssociate Professor of English Joseph Rezek said Wednesday that faculty recently voted to approve the updated outcomes. One provision requires students to “craft and revise writing that is sustained, original, and generated without the assistance of AI.”\nThe change makes independent writing a formal competency for students completing the English major as colleges nationwide continue to determine how tools such as ChatGPT should fit into writing, research, and other academic work.\nThe new outcome applies at the program level, defining a skill English graduates are expected to demonstrate. Faculty members will continue setting rules for AI use in individual courses and assignments.\nBoston University’s academic conduct rules give those decisions additional weight. Under a revised Academic Conduct Code that took effect July 1, AI use that has not been expressly authorized by an instructor can constitute academic misconduct.\nStudents found responsible for violations can face sanctions including grade reductions, suspension and, in serious cases, expulsion. The English requirement addresses a separate question by identifying independent writing as one of the abilities expected of students earning the degree.\nThe department’s move comes as Boston University continues to build generative AI into other parts of its academic strategy.\nA university task force recommended in 2024 that BU “critically embrace” generative AI, support AI literacy among students and faculty, and allow academic units to develop policies suited to their disciplines. It also encouraged instructors to connect any restrictions on AI to specific learning objectives.\nThe university has since supported AI-focused teaching across several programs. BU offers an AI Literacy for Writing course that teaches students to work with generative AI while remaining responsible for their writing, and other university initiatives have incorporated the technology into subjects including advertising and language instruction.\nWithin that broader framework, the English Department has now identified writing without AI assistance as a core skill for its majors.\nThe change is new enough that BU’s central academic bulletin still displayed the English major’s previous learning outcomes Wednesday. Those requirements cover literary analysis, interpretation, research and writing but do not yet include the new AI language.\nRezek characterized the newly approved language as an “anti-AI provision” when announcing the faculty vote.\nThe department has not yet detailed how the outcome will be assessed across the English curriculum. Its adoption gives students a new benchmark for completing the major as universities continue to define where artificial intelligence belongs in college writing.\nRelated Articles\nCalifornia lawmakers have approved legislation that would impose new requirements on attorneys who use generative artificial intelligence, including verifying AI-generated work, disclosing its use in court filings, and protecting confidential client information.Senate Bill 574, known as the Court A.I. Protection Act, passed the Legislature and was sent to Gov. Gavin... Read More »\nOpenAI says an artificial intelligence system has solved one of mathematics' most famous unsolved problems, but a dispute involving two mathematicians who used the company's Codex tool is raising a separate question: what happens when researchers share unpublished work with an AI platform that is also developing competing research capabilities?The... Read More »\nAI-generated music is facing new restrictions across streaming services and official charts as the recording industry begins setting rules for how artificial intelligence is disclosed and whether AI-made songs can compete for chart positions.Australia’s ARIA Charts began excluding wholly AI-generated tracks from its Aug. 31 ranking, while the International Federation... Read More »\nHollywood and TikTok parent company ByteDance have reached an agreement aimed at strengthening copyright protections across the company’s generative AI products, following months of tension over the use of film and television intellectual property. The Motion Picture Association and ByteDance announced Monday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding... Read More »","excerpt":"The Seattle Times and Newsday have sued OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the companies of copying hundreds of thousands of articles without permission to train AI systems and asking a federal court to destroy models and training datasets that incorporate their journalism.The copyright infringement lawsuit, filed September 4 in the U.S.... Read More »\nBoston University Adds AI-Free Writing Requirement for English Majors\nBoston University has added an AI-free writing requirement for English majors, with newly approved learning outcomes calling on students to demonstrate that they can produce sustained, original writing without artificial intelligence.","extraction":{"state":"ok","confidence":0.9,"error":null,"explanation":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4952 characters.","diagnostics_url":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//www.lawcommentary.com/articles/boston-university-ai-free-writing-requirement-english-majors","quality_profile":{"profile_version":"extraction_quality.v2","bucket":"high","confidence":0.9,"failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"retry_after_attempts":0,"reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 4952 characters.","operator_guidance":{"severity":"ok","recommended_action":"trust_full_text","next_step":"Use the extracted full text as the primary article source.","operator_label":"Ready","can_retry":false,"can_use_summary":false,"diagnostics_required":false},"content_depth":{"contract_version":"content_depth.v1","category":"full_text","label":"Full text","has_full_text":true,"has_summary":true,"content_length":4952,"summary_length":655,"usable_text_length":4952,"source_field":"content"},"legacy_collapsed":false,"signals":{"extract_state":"ok","extract_error":null,"extract_retries":0,"content_length":4952,"summary_length":655}}},"display_formats":["compact","card","full","digest_section","json"]},"daily_stack_record":{"title":"Boston University Adds AI-Free Writing Requirement for English Majors - lawcommentary.com","url":"https://www.lawcommentary.com/articles/boston-university-ai-free-writing-requirement-english-majors","summary":"The Seattle Times and Newsday have sued OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the companies of copying hundreds of thousands of articles without permission to train AI systems and asking a federal court to destroy models and training datasets that incorporate their journalism.The copyright infringement lawsuit, filed September 4 in the U.S.... 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Read More »\nBoston University Adds AI-Free Writing Requirement for English Majors\nBoston University has added an AI-free writing requirement for English majors, with newly approved learning outcomes calling on students to demonstrate that they can produce sustained, original writing without artificial intelligence.\nAssociate Professor of English Joseph Rezek said Wednesday that faculty recently voted to approve the updated outcomes. One provision requires students to “craft and revise writing that is sustained, original, and generated without the assistance of AI.”\nThe change makes independent writing a formal competency for students completing the English major as colleges nationwide continue to determine how tools such as ChatGPT should fit into writing, research, and other academic work.\nThe new outcome applies at the program level, defining a skill English graduates are expected to demonstrate. Faculty members will continue setting rules for AI use in individual courses and assignments.\nBoston University’s academic conduct rules give those decisions additional weight. Under a revised Academic Conduct Code that took effect July 1, AI use that has not been expressly authorized by an instructor can constitute academic misconduct.\nStudents found responsible for violations can face sanctions including grade reductions, suspension and, in serious cases, expulsion. The English requirement addresses a separate question by identifying independent writing as one of the abilities expected of students earning the degree.\nThe department’s move comes as Boston University continues to build generative AI into other parts of its academic strategy.\nA university task force recommended in 2024 that BU “critically embrace” generative AI, support AI literacy among students and faculty, and allow academic units to develop policies suited to their disciplines. It also encouraged instructors to connect any restrictions on AI to specific learning objectives.\nThe university has since supported AI-focused teaching across several programs. BU offers an AI Literacy for Writing course that teaches students to work with generative AI while remaining responsible for their writing, and other university initiatives have incorporated the technology into subjects including advertising and language instruction.\nWithin that broader framework, the English Department has now identified writing without AI assistance as a core skill for its majors.\nThe change is new enough that BU’s central academic bulletin still displayed the English major’s previous learning outcomes Wednesday. Those requirements cover literary analysis, interpretation, research and writing but do not yet include the new AI language.\nRezek characterized the newly approved language as an “anti-AI provision” when announcing the faculty vote.\nThe department has not yet detailed how the outcome will be assessed across the English curriculum. Its adoption gives students a new benchmark for completing the major as universities continue to define where artificial intelligence belongs in college writing.\nRelated Articles\nCalifornia lawmakers have approved legislation that would impose new requirements on attorneys who use generative artificial intelligence, including verifying AI-generated work, disclosing its use in court filings, and protecting confidential client information.Senate Bill 574, known as the Court A.I. Protection Act, passed the Legislature and was sent to Gov. Gavin... Read More »\nOpenAI says an artificial intelligence system has solved one of mathematics' most famous unsolved problems, but a dispute involving two mathematicians who used the company's Codex tool is raising a separate question: what happens when researchers share unpublished work with an AI platform that is also developing competing research capabilities?The... Read More »\nAI-generated music is facing new restrictions across streaming services and official charts as the recording industry begins setting rules for how artificial intelligence is disclosed and whether AI-made songs can compete for chart positions.Australia’s ARIA Charts began excluding wholly AI-generated tracks from its Aug. 31 ranking, while the International Federation... Read More »\nHollywood and TikTok parent company ByteDance have reached an agreement aimed at strengthening copyright protections across the company’s generative AI products, following months of tension over the use of film and television intellectual property. The Motion Picture Association and ByteDance announced Monday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding... 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Read More »\nBoston University Adds AI-Free Writing Requirement for English Majors\nBoston University has added an AI-free writing requirement for English majors, with newly approved learning outcomes calling on students to demonstrate that they can produce sustained, original writing without artificial intelligence.","full_text":"The Seattle Times and Newsday have sued OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the companies of copying hundreds of thousands of articles without permission to train AI systems and asking a federal court to destroy models and training datasets that incorporate their journalism.The copyright infringement lawsuit, filed September 4 in the U.S.... Read More »\nBoston University Adds AI-Free Writing Requirement for English Majors\nBoston University has added an AI-free writing requirement for English majors, with newly approved learning outcomes calling on students to demonstrate that they can produce sustained, original writing without artificial intelligence.\nAssociate Professor of English Joseph Rezek said Wednesday that faculty recently voted to approve the updated outcomes. One provision requires students to “craft and revise writing that is sustained, original, and generated without the assistance of AI.”\nThe change makes independent writing a formal competency for students completing the English major as colleges nationwide continue to determine how tools such as ChatGPT should fit into writing, research, and other academic work.\nThe new outcome applies at the program level, defining a skill English graduates are expected to demonstrate. Faculty members will continue setting rules for AI use in individual courses and assignments.\nBoston University’s academic conduct rules give those decisions additional weight. Under a revised Academic Conduct Code that took effect July 1, AI use that has not been expressly authorized by an instructor can constitute academic misconduct.\nStudents found responsible for violations can face sanctions including grade reductions, suspension and, in serious cases, expulsion. The English requirement addresses a separate question by identifying independent writing as one of the abilities expected of students earning the degree.\nThe department’s move comes as Boston University continues to build generative AI into other parts of its academic strategy.\nA university task force recommended in 2024 that BU “critically embrace” generative AI, support AI literacy among students and faculty, and allow academic units to develop policies suited to their disciplines. It also encouraged instructors to connect any restrictions on AI to specific learning objectives.\nThe university has since supported AI-focused teaching across several programs. BU offers an AI Literacy for Writing course that teaches students to work with generative AI while remaining responsible for their writing, and other university initiatives have incorporated the technology into subjects including advertising and language instruction.\nWithin that broader framework, the English Department has now identified writing without AI assistance as a core skill for its majors.\nThe change is new enough that BU’s central academic bulletin still displayed the English major’s previous learning outcomes Wednesday. Those requirements cover literary analysis, interpretation, research and writing but do not yet include the new AI language.\nRezek characterized the newly approved language as an “anti-AI provision” when announcing the faculty vote.\nThe department has not yet detailed how the outcome will be assessed across the English curriculum. Its adoption gives students a new benchmark for completing the major as universities continue to define where artificial intelligence belongs in college writing.\nRelated Articles\nCalifornia lawmakers have approved legislation that would impose new requirements on attorneys who use generative artificial intelligence, including verifying AI-generated work, disclosing its use in court filings, and protecting confidential client information.Senate Bill 574, known as the Court A.I. Protection Act, passed the Legislature and was sent to Gov. Gavin... Read More »\nOpenAI says an artificial intelligence system has solved one of mathematics' most famous unsolved problems, but a dispute involving two mathematicians who used the company's Codex tool is raising a separate question: what happens when researchers share unpublished work with an AI platform that is also developing competing research capabilities?The... Read More »\nAI-generated music is facing new restrictions across streaming services and official charts as the recording industry begins setting rules for how artificial intelligence is disclosed and whether AI-made songs can compete for chart positions.Australia’s ARIA Charts began excluding wholly AI-generated tracks from its Aug. 31 ranking, while the International Federation... Read More »\nHollywood and TikTok parent company ByteDance have reached an agreement aimed at strengthening copyright protections across the company’s generative AI products, following months of tension over the use of film and television intellectual property. The Motion Picture Association and ByteDance announced Monday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding... 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Read More »\nBoston University Adds AI-Free Writing Requirement for English Majors\nBoston University has added an AI-free writing requirement for English majors, with newly approved learning outcomes calling on students to demonstrate that they can produce sustained, original writing without artificial intelligence.","source":"lawcommentary.com","date":"2026-09-17T14:47:56+00:00","content":"The Seattle Times and Newsday have sued OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the companies of copying hundreds of thousands of articles without permission to train AI systems and asking a federal court to destroy models and training datasets that incorporate their journalism.The copyright infringement lawsuit, filed September 4 in the U.S.... Read More »\nBoston University Adds AI-Free Writing Requirement for English Majors\nBoston University has added an AI-free writing requirement for English majors, with newly approved learning outcomes calling on students to demonstrate that they can produce sustained, original writing without artificial intelligence.\nAssociate Professor of English Joseph Rezek said Wednesday that faculty recently voted to approve the updated outcomes. One provision requires students to “craft and revise writing that is sustained, original, and generated without the assistance of AI.”\nThe change makes independent writing a formal competency for students completing the English major as colleges nationwide continue to determine how tools such as ChatGPT should fit into writing, research, and other academic work.\nThe new outcome applies at the program level, defining a skill English graduates are expected to demonstrate. Faculty members will continue setting rules for AI use in individual courses and assignments.\nBoston University’s academic conduct rules give those decisions additional weight. Under a revised Academic Conduct Code that took effect July 1, AI use that has not been expressly authorized by an instructor can constitute academic misconduct.\nStudents found responsible for violations can face sanctions including grade reductions, suspension and, in serious cases, expulsion. The English requirement addresses a separate question by identifying independent writing as one of the abilities expected of students earning the degree.\nThe department’s move comes as Boston University continues to build generative AI into other parts of its academic strategy.\nA university task force recommended in 2024 that BU “critically embrace” generative AI, support AI literacy among students and faculty, and allow academic units to develop policies suited to their disciplines. It also encouraged instructors to connect any restrictions on AI to specific learning objectives.\nThe university has since supported AI-focused teaching across several programs. BU offers an AI Literacy for Writing course that teaches students to work with generative AI while remaining responsible for their writing, and other university initiatives have incorporated the technology into subjects including advertising and language instruction.\nWithin that broader framework, the English Department has now identified writing without AI assistance as a core skill for its majors.\nThe change is new enough that BU’s central academic bulletin still displayed the English major’s previous learning outcomes Wednesday. Those requirements cover literary analysis, interpretation, research and writing but do not yet include the new AI language.\nRezek characterized the newly approved language as an “anti-AI provision” when announcing the faculty vote.\nThe department has not yet detailed how the outcome will be assessed across the English curriculum. Its adoption gives students a new benchmark for completing the major as universities continue to define where artificial intelligence belongs in college writing.\nRelated Articles\nCalifornia lawmakers have approved legislation that would impose new requirements on attorneys who use generative artificial intelligence, including verifying AI-generated work, disclosing its use in court filings, and protecting confidential client information.Senate Bill 574, known as the Court A.I. Protection Act, passed the Legislature and was sent to Gov. Gavin... Read More »\nOpenAI says an artificial intelligence system has solved one of mathematics' most famous unsolved problems, but a dispute involving two mathematicians who used the company's Codex tool is raising a separate question: what happens when researchers share unpublished work with an AI platform that is also developing competing research capabilities?The... Read More »\nAI-generated music is facing new restrictions across streaming services and official charts as the recording industry begins setting rules for how artificial intelligence is disclosed and whether AI-made songs can compete for chart positions.Australia’s ARIA Charts began excluding wholly AI-generated tracks from its Aug. 31 ranking, while the International Federation... Read More »\nHollywood and TikTok parent company ByteDance have reached an agreement aimed at strengthening copyright protections across the company’s generative AI products, following months of tension over the use of film and television intellectual property. The Motion Picture Association and ByteDance announced Monday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding... 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