PNSQC Generative AI Policy Pacific NW Software Quality Conference

Using Generative AI in PNSQC Papers, Presentations, and Workshop Materials

PNSQC Policy V1.0
December 2023

The primary use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) - the creation of new content - gives rise to concerns related to intellectual property rights and plagiarism. PNSQC wants to ensure that authors, reviewers, readers, and all interested parties are aware of relevant issues; including the risks for authors when using this technology. Also, the Board of PNSQC wants to ensure that all interested parties understand PNSQC’s policy when it comes to Generative AI use, which is covered by Section B of this document.

In this document, the terms “Generative AI”, “GenAI”, and “AI and AI-assisted tools” will be used interchangeably. In Section A, “you” and “your” refer to an author and (if applicable) an author’s co-author(s).

A. General Considerations for Authors & Authorship

1. Lack of Ownership in Output
Using GenAI output might impair an author’s ability to protect certain forms of intellectual property. “Human authorship” is necessary for copyright protection in the U.S. or in applicable jurisdictions. Still, a majority of copyright laws throughout the world do not explicitly address Al-generated content at present. With GenAI, it is not always clear who the creator is or how much involvement a human has in creating the work. It can also be tricky to determine the ownership of GenAI-generated content. If you use GenAI to create content for your paper, you may not have the rights required to use that content in the way that you intend or want to. It’s also important to consider how the tool developer can use the data provided to a GenAI tool, and what rights the GenAI developer may have to the work product generated by their tool.

2. Plagiarism
GenAI tools may inadvertently plagiarize or infringe on someone else’s content because GenAI uses others’ content - typically, in the form of training data - to learn to do what it does and it may deliver output that incorporates the works of others. The developers of the GenAI may not have the rights to use or deliver these sources of the content on which the GenAI is based. If appropriate rights to the content used by GenAI have not been obtained, the resulting generated content could infringe third-party IP rights which could lead to lawsuits against you

3. GenAI Use in PNSQC Papers, Presentations, and Workshop Materials
GenAI has risks, and by using it, you take on those risks and responsibilities as mentioned above. If you do use GenAI, we expect you to adhere to the requirements stated in Part B of this document.

B. Policy for Authors of PNSQC Papers, Presentations, and Workshop Materials

The goal of the Policy
This policy aims to provide greater transparency and guidance to authors, reviewers, readers, and other interested parties about generative AI and AI-assisted technologies by authors. PNSQC will monitor this field's development and adjust or refine this policy when appropriate. Please note the policy only refers to the writing process, and not to the use of AI tools to analyze and draw insights from data as part of the research/analysis process.

When and how to use AI as authors
Where authors use AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, these technologies should only be used to improve the readability and language of the work and not to replace key authoring tasks such as producing scientific / engineering / pedagogic insights, concluding, and making recommendations on best practices. Applying the technology should be done with human oversight and control and all work should be reviewed and edited carefully because AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete, or biased. The authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of the work.

How to disclose the use of AI / AI-assisted technologies
Authors should disclose the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies, and a statement shall appear in the work itself. Declaring the use of these technologies supports transparency and trust between authors, readers, reviewers, editors, and contributors and facilitates compliance with the terms of use of the relevant tool or technology. A section entitled “Disclosure & Acknowledgement” should be placed immediately before the References, as shown in this document. This section should disclose and acknowledge relevant third-party work from which the current work is derived; especially contents generated with the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies.

AI and AI-assisted technologies can not be listed as author-co-authors / responsibilities of authors
Authors should not list AI and AI-assisted technologies as an author or co-author, nor cite AI as an author. Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans. Each (co-) author is accountable for ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved and authorship requires the ability to approve the final version of the work and agree to its submission. Authors are also responsible for ensuring that the work is original, that the stated authors qualify for authorship, and the work does not infringe third-party rights and should familiarize themselves with other applicable PNSQC policy and guidance documents before they submit.

The use of generative AI and AI-assisted tools in figures, images, and artwork
Generative AI or AI-assisted tools cannot be used to create or alter images in paper submissions
PNSQC does not permit the use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create or alter images in submitted papers for publications in our proceedings. This may include enhancing, obscuring, moving, removing, or introducing a specific feature within an image or figure. Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable if they do not obscure or eliminate any information present in the original. Image forensics tools or specialized software might be applied to submitted materials to identify suspected image irregularities by PNSQC or third-party copyright owners.

Exceptions of using AI or AI-assisted tools: when they are part of the research design/methods
The only exception is if the use of AI or AI-assisted tools is part of the research design or research methods (such as in AI-assisted imaging approaches to generate or interpret the underlying research data, for example in the field of imaging or image analysis). If this is done, such use must be described in a reproducible manner. This should include an explanation of how the AI or AI-assisted tools were used in the image creation or alteration process, the name of the model or tool, version and extension numbers, and manufacturer/supplier. Authors should adhere to the AI software's specific usage policies and ensure correct content attribution.

Images cannot violate state or federal laws, regardless of how they were created
PNSQC is politically neutral. However, images in violation of the laws of the state of Oregon and the United States of America, regardless of the methods used in creating them, shall not be permitted in PNSQC papers, presentations, or workshop materials – whether AI or AI-assisted tools were used or not.

C. Disclosure & Acknowledgement

Section B of this document is based on Reference 1, “The use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in writing for Elsevier - Policy for Book and Commissioned Content Authors,” last retrieved on December 28, 2023. Minor tailoring was done by PNSQC to assure alignment with the laws of the state of Oregon and the USA and to provide specificity where needed for PNSQC business. No AI or AI-assisted technology was used in authoring this document.

Using Generative AI in PNSQC Papers, Presentations, and Workshop Materials

A. General Considerations for Authors & Authorship

B. Policy for Authors of PNSQC Papers, Presentations, and Workshop Materials

C. Disclosure & Acknowledgement

D. References