Academic (mis)uses of GenAI

This second post by Neil Selwyn and his collaborators shares some of the preliminary results from their research survey, which was discussed in an RW post earlier this year ‘Academics’ uses of GenAI‘. Image from Lance Chang | unsplash.com “I think because it’s not openly discussed and yet it’s so easy to use, I feel guilty. I question if I’m cheating somehow? Or going to get caught?” (#116) We ran a short anonymous survey between December 2025 and March 2026 focusing on ‘grey uses’ of GenAI – aspects of AI use that academics feel their colleagues and peers might well judge inappropriate. The survey attracted over 200 responses (a lot more than we were expecting) and we are now working through the data. As a start, here are some initial observations from our first passes of the data: 1. Different stances toward GenAI use Respondents report a wide range of uses that might well be perceived as inappropriate, from minor cases of tweaking language through to drafting student feedback,…