Some academic programs are more oriented to group projects than others. For instance, they are especially prevalent in business schools. Apparently, some people drop classes that require group work. We don’t recommend this approach because if you take this approach, you’ll never learn executive power skills, and you should immediately drop the idea of business school. Group projects are the only projects available in business school, so if you’re interested in an MBA, this blog is for you. In a professional setting, junior employees will work in a team setting to work toward completing a project.
Additionally, the group setting makes it uncomfortable to “tattle” on a classmate to the professor, leaving you with little recourse if a team member doesn’t do their fair share or skirts ethical boundaries established by the university. This is why business schools insist on team projects. They reflect a real-world business setting.
In the age of AI, group work is more risky than ever. Group work leads to shared consequences. Some drop classes that require group work. We don’t recommend this approach because if you take this approach, you’ll never learn executive power skills, and you should immediately drop the idea of business school. Everyone gets the same upside (a good grade) and the same downside (bad grade/academic punishment). Before AI, the annoying part of group work was one team member doing little work but collecting a good grade. In the era of ChatGPT, it’s a team member using ChatGPT, and the whole team is facing the same academic ethics violation. that could get you all kicked out of school and prevent you from the job of your dreams.
Here are a few tips to help you survive.
Create a shared document that clearly shows everyone’s contribution
Everyone in the group should know who is adding what and when. Make sure you get names and time stamps when people add their content. Additionally, create a detailed outline of the paper, including who is supposed to be adding what and by when. The issue is that if you share upsides and downsides, you should keep track of contributions. Apart from someone using AI, this is an easy way to point out a out a lack of contribution. Just do this nicely, and avoid passive aggression. “Kevin, you had that great idea for the paper, but it’s not here. We need it to be able to move forward with the conclusion.”
One person should have a subscription to AI Detector Pro
Make it a group ground rule that no one can add anything to the master document (the one with your names and time stamps) without running it through AI Detector Pro. If someone has used AI, they should get their report score down to 2 by editing or humanizing through AI Detector Pro.
Run the whole piece through AI Detector Pro before you submit
Last-minute checks are basic. There’s no harm in running one last screen. Even our cheapest plan gives you 103 monthly reports, including humanization.
If you find that someone has used AI, don’t be hard on them. First, if you’re in business school, you will graduate into a world where you will use AI to speed up your work. Also, this individual is part of your professional network. The main issue is that your teammate violated a group ground rule (see above) more than they used AI. Ask them to clean up the mess by rewriting the section themselves (not using AI) and changing it before the final submission. Since they’re not great with attention to detail, someone should take on the task of re-scanning whatever they rewrite.
Above all, group work in the age of AI requires thoughtful planning, tracking, and management. It’s no longer a time when you can scramble and put something out at the last minute. Keep that in mind as you project manage your group work and think about the extra effort as a lesson in managing a team in the workplace.