Moral Diversity in Institutional Policies Governing the Student Usage of Generative AI: An International Comparison

ABSTRACT This paper explores from an ethical standpoint how higher education institutions in three different countries (Canada, UK, and USA) have framed their policies containing guidelines in regard to the student usage of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). An inductive thematic analysis of the online GenAI policy sources of 36 universities has revealed the existence of different national patterns with regard to two major moral aspects. Firstly, institutions follow different moral frames to justify their critical or accepting stance towards GenAI, specifically conceptualised in this paper as: (a) moral consistency and (b) responsible futureproofing. Secondly, institutions assign different levels of moral authority to faculty as ultimate decision‐makers, identified in the paper as (a) absolute, (b) restrained, and (c) hybrid. Through an international comparative discussion of these findings, the paper wishes to inform current and future policy (re)formations on the topic, as institutional work in the area is currently rapidly unfolding.