Sydney Morning Herald takes down article after author admits using AI

An opinion piece written by a university academic defending the use of AI has been taken down by the Sydney Morning Herald after the author admitted using AI to write it.

Editor Jordan Baker said the Herald was not told about the use of AI and that is was "unacceptable".

Nine, publisher of the Herald, did not provide a statement to the ABC.

The Sydney Morning Herald has taken down an opinion piece defending the use of artificial intelligence at universities, after it emerged its author used AI to write it.

Cath Ellis is the pro vice chancellor of quality and integrity at Western Sydney University, and was featured on the newspaper's website arguing against concerns that generative AI was diminishing the value of higher education.

Sunday's column was a response to an earlier opinion piece by Macquarie University academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert.

In that article, published by the same masthead, Dr Moore-Gilbert accused Australia's universities of committing "widespread, industrial-scale fraud", and said workplaces would soon play host to a "real-time experiment in degree by [Chat]GPT".

In Professor Ellis's rebuttal, she wrote that she had recently spent time "at the centre of what generative AI is doing to higher education", and universities had been working to adapt to the technology.

"The [university] sector is not standing still. It is in the middle of a significant transformation," the now-retracted article read.

"What we are doing now … is shifting from assessing what students submit to assuring what they actually know, can do and have become."

A WSU spokesperson said AI was used in a "sophisticated and appropriate" way. (ABC News: Patrick Thomas)

A spokesperson for Western Sydney University (WSU) confirmed Professor Ellis had used generative AI, in what they said was a "sophisticated and appropriate" way.

"To write her opinion article, Prof. Ellis uploaded 40,000 words of her own original materials into a Copilot Large Language Model," a statement read.

"The model summarised her extensive base of knowledge, providing prompts.

"This was the basis of the early drafts, reflecting Prof. Ellis's own thinking, ideas and opinions built up over more than a decade of dedicated work as a global leader in this field."

WSU told the Herald that Professor Ellis shared her article with the university's media team, who also used AI tools to "suggest further improvements".

According to the editorial guidelines of Nine, publisher of the Herald, journalists and editorial employees are permitted to use AI tools where there is a "genuine benefit in doing so".