Lancaster University Works with LUSU on Turnitin Concerns

Our LUSU Education Officer, Niamh, and the University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education are working together to look at AI concerns over the software.

You can find the original statement from the University and Niamh on the uni’s website, and Niamh’s Instagram.

Turnitin, a software programme used to submit uni assignments and check them for plagiarism, has recently been the cause of concern – with both students, and students’ unions across the country.

Turnitin is proposing changes to its user agreements with universities, leading to fears that student work could be used to train Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, Professor Louise Dixon, and our Education Officer, Niamh McAuley, have been working together to address these concerns:

“We are aware of concerns about Turnitin’s proposed changes to its user agreement, including the potential use of student-work submissions to develop its AI detection tools.

“Safeguarding our community’s intellectual property and data privacy is very important to the University. Turnitin’s proposed changes have been postponed until at least the 2027-28 academic year, and we have received reassurances from Turnitin that student data is not being used to train their large language model.

“However, Lancaster is working with the Students’ Union and the professional body for digital practitioners in education, UCISA, to address concerns with Turnitin. We may review the use of Turnitin should its terms change in the future.”

You can find more info about how the Uni uses your student data from the Lancaster University Student Privacy Notice.