The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the first reading the bill on academic integrity, which provides for punishment for the use of artificial intelligence for writing scientific works and plagiarism in scientific activities.

The draft law establishes that each educational task must be completed independently, except when the participation of several persons or assistance from other persons is permitted by the rules of performance of the respective tasks.

The main provisions of the draft law include:

1. A person cannot be considered the author of an academic work if it is created or generated on request using a computer program in automatic mode.
2. When using parts generated by computer programs in an academic work, the author is obliged to indicate this fact with an explanation of the method of formation or a reference to the corresponding computer program.
3. Educational and scientific institutions should have internal systems for ensuring academic integrity.

In the event of a violation of academic integrity:

1. The publisher has the right to refuse to publish an academic work and to notify the head of the institution where the author works.
2. The published academic work, in which the fact of violation is found, must be withdrawn by the publisher with the simultaneous publication of the reasons for the withdrawal.
3. A withdrawn academic work is not considered published and is not taken into account when evaluating the author’s academic activity.

Where is the guarantee that this bill and the news about it are not the result of AI? “Nobody knows that”…