Generative AI in Higher Education Teaching & Learning: Roles & Responsibilities (Students)

! Generative)AI)in)Higher)Education)Teaching)&)Learning)) Roles & Responsibili,es: Students Contributors James O’Sullivan Colin Lowry Ross Woods Tim Conlon HEA Genera?ve AI Policy Framework hFps://hub.teachingandlearning.ie/genai/policy-framework HEA Genera?ve AI Resource Portal hFps://hub.teachingandlearning.ie/genai/ Version 1.0, December 2025 DOI: 10.82110/0573-9c67 Higher Educa?on Authority, Dublin How to cite: O’Sullivan, James, Colin Lowry, Ross Woods & Tim Conlon. Genera&ve AI in Higher Educa&on Teaching & Learning: Roles & Responsibili&es (Students). Dublin: Higher Educa?on Authority, 2025. DOI: 10.82110/0573-9c67. This document, and all original content contained within, is licensed under the Crea?ve Commons AFribu?on-ShareAlike 4.0 Interna?onal Public License (CC BY-SA 4.0). 1 Students are subject to institutional regulations governing academic integrity, assessment, and conduct, but they are also active participants in shaping how generative AI functions within the higher education learning environment. Students should be viewed as partners in ensuring that generative AI supports learning, intellectual development, and academic standards. The primary responsibility of students in this context is ethical and transparent use of generative AI. Students must not present AI-generated content, in whole or in part, as their own original work where this is prohibited or restricted by institutional or module-level policy. Where disclosure of AI use is required, students should comply fully and accurately. Failure to acknowledge the use of generative AI constitutes a breach of academic integrity and will be treated in the same manner as plagiarism, fabrication, or other forms of academic misconduct. Students are expected to understand that integrity in an AI context is not limited to copying text, but includes misrepresentation of authorship, intellectual labour, and decision-making processes. There should be no doubt that students retain full responsibility for all materials submitted under their name, regardless of whether generative AI tools have been used in their production. Students also bear responsibility for developing and maintaining their own AI literacy. While institutions are obliged to provide guidance, training, and access to resources, students are expected to engage actively with these supports. Competence in understanding the capabilities, limitations, and risks of generative AI is now a baseline requirement for effective participation in higher education and for future professional life. Students who choose not to engage with AI literacy initiatives do so at their own disadvantage, both academically and in terms of graduate preparedness. This responsibility includes staying informed about institutional guidance as it evolves and recognising that AI systems are not neutral or infallible tools. A further responsibility lies in recognising and respecting contextual variation in AI policy and practice. Permissions and restrictions regarding AI use may differ across programmes, modules, assessments, and disciplines. Students must not assume that practices permitted in one learning context automatically apply in another. It is the student’s responsibility to read assessment briefs carefully, to seek clarification where expectations are unclear, and to comply with the specific requirements set by individual teaching staff. Claims of misunderstanding or ambiguity will not normally excuse noncompliance where guidance has been made available. Students also have a role in contributing constructively to institutional governance and dialogue around generative AI. Mechanisms such as student feedback, representation on academic committees, and participation in pilot initiatives or consultations are essential to ensuring that AI-related policies remain 2 responsive to lived educational experience. Through these channels, students contribute to the codevelopment of an AI-enabled learning environment that reflects both pedagogical priorities and student realities. Participation in such processes carries with it an expectation of good faith engagement, informed by an understanding of institutional constraints as well as student needs. These responsibilities position students as accountable members of the academic community in an era of generative AI. Ethical conduct, informed engagement, respect for disciplinary norms, and participation in shared governance are integral to sustaining the value and credibility of higher education qualifications in a rapidly changing technological landscape.