Academic Integrity in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence: Legal and Ethical Perspectives

Abstract

The generative artificial intelligence (AI) plays a significant role in fields of   higher education and research. It has disturbed the established concepts of authorship, novelty and academic integrity. This paper examines the legal and ethical perspectives of use of generative AI in academic backgrounds through a doctrinal and thematic analysis of recent scholarship, institutional guidance and evolving governing instruments. It reflects that there is inadequacy of   binding statutory regulations, governance currently focus on institutional policy, publisher and funder mandates and developing rules of disclosure rather than legislation. Ethically, there has a shift of the debate from individual misconduct towards general accounts that involve assessment design, institutional culture and equitable access to AI tools. The analysis identifies continuing tensions between detection-based enforcement and due process, and between innovation and fairness. The paper concludes that transparent disclosure frameworks, redesigned assessment practices and layered governance models offer a more secure path forward than total prohibition or continued reliance on untrustworthy technologies of detection.