AI Policy Clarification: Course Quality Standards and New Disclosure Requirements

Hello Instructors,

In light of the various AI policies and features, we have heard some of your feedback regarding lack of clarity for what policies exist around the use of AI in Udemy courses.

We encourage all Instructor Partners to familiarize themselves with the following current policies around course quality and use of AI and to audit your courses accordingly.

Here’s a quick overview of the key policies:

Course Quality Checklist: Use of AI

Key Takeaway: Udemy allows the use of quality text-to-speech (TTS) and artificial intelligence (AI) programs to assist in the course creation process, but any such usage should be responsible and add value to the learner experience.
Our Minimum Video Standards recap some of the most common video issues that have the greatest impact on the learner experience. These issues can be exasperated even further by the use of AI.

Course Description: Rules & Guidelines

Key Takeaway: instructors are required to disclose in their course description whether they have used artificial intelligence in their course content or creation process.
While the policy is fresh, we have accounted for a 3 month grace period for existing courses, but new courses submitted to the Quality Review Process will require this disclosure.

Why does this matter? As the use of AI becomes more prevalent in the edtech landscape, it’s important to set expectations about what sort of courses will be approved in the Quality Review Process and what will be prioritized by learners and customers.

Please keep in mind that we are continuing to evolve our AI policies to meet the needs of our learners and UB customers. Content quality remains a top priority, no matter the tools used.

In the spirit of continuous learning and collaboration, we are excited to embark on this journey together as we navigate the evolving landscape of AI. Your insights and commitment are invaluable as we learn and grow alongside one another. Thank you for your continued partnership and dedication.

We'd love to hear from you. From your experience, is there anything we might have missed that could enhance these policies?.

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Comments

Rafał Podraza

Hi @RyanJaress ,

I have two questions to clarify the latest policy updates about external links and promotional content in Udemy courses:

1️⃣ Can I include links to my free educational materials, my YouTube channel, my Facebook group, or my fanpage inside the course (for example, in a lecture article or a resource file)?
Or are all external links — even free and non-promotional — now fully restricted?

2️⃣ Am I allowed to include a short promotional video (for example, about my book or my other related Udemy courses) inside the course content?

Thanks in advance for clarifying!
I just want to make sure I stay fully compliant with Udemy’s new quality and AI policies.

Best regards,
Rafał Podraza

Thor

It is still weird that if we use AI we have to say it as the FIRST thing in a course description, even if it is ONLY Udemy's AI.

Does Udemy plan to make a default disclaimer somewhere for all the courses that are opted in to the Udemy AI?

I would assume 80%+ are opted in, that is A LOT of descriptions that could have just have just had the <generic Udemy AI disclaimer>.

Dr. Kat

@RyanJaress As a direct question, which I also asked in another thread: If fully AI-generated courses without any sign of any human being are not allowed on Udemy, why are there so many of it? These courses ruin the reputation of the platform, and I wonder, if they're not even allowed by policy, how do they make it past the pre-publishing review process of Udemy?

SivakamiS2017

I can add it at the end of the Description, right ? Not at the beginning. @Thor you mentioned that it has to be the FIRST thing in the description …

Matthieu

I thought AI generated courses were not allowed on Udemy…

SergeyK

I really do not want to see AI-generated courses on Udemy and I will never enrol into one. I simply don’t trust them 🤷🏻‍♂️.

And I agree that these entirely AI-generated courses do damage Udemy’s reputation 😐

It feels like Udemy started to intentionally allow some of these courses as an experiment to see how they perform 🤔. And if they do well allow more AI-generated content and features that produce AI content for learners.

beingcommerce

LOL, but why even you allowing AI content in the first place? You guys are just finding more ways to destroy Udemy. I think your competitors have sent some people to Udemy's top management just to destroy it.

AnilThomas1692

@beingcommerce totally agreed.

Oneness

@RyanJaress

Hello Ryan, Lets say I only use AI for image generation in my course materials, for example, images used in my PowerPoint slides. Do I still need to disclose this in the course description?

SivakamiS2017

I use AI only to search for relevant Research studies and findings. But I have disclosed that.

Stephen Tracy

I didn't realize the disclosures requirement includes the use Udemy's own AI tools. Thank you for flagging this @Thor.

@RyanJaress I support the idea of disclosures related to AI generated educational content and resources. But the inclusion of Udemy's own AI tools seems to miss the point here, and I think you and the team should reconsider. Here's why:

1) It frames a "feature" as a detriment
I assume Udemy's own AI tools, such as the AI role play, are being developed as a value-add (e.g. a premium feature to enhance the learning experience).

But the current policy forces instructors to label the inclusion of features that Udemy built as a "warning." The phrase "This course contains the use of artificial intelligence" at the very top of a description is, in my opinion, a potential deterrent, because it lumps a high quality course that leverages Udemy's own AI tools into the same category as a course potentially written/generated entirely by AI. With your current disclosure requirements, there's zero ground between these two scenarios, and that feels wrong.

2) It places the burden on the instructor
If an instructor chooses to use third-party AI to create their content, I agree that they should be required to include a disclosure. But when an instructor uses a Udemy-provided tool/feature, shouldn't it be Udemy's responsibility to communicate this feature to students. You have the ability to build out such a feature, like badges that highlight use of your tools. So why pass the burden to us. Just like you highlight/celebrate a course included in UFB on a landing page, shouldn't value-add features like AI role play be celebrated, instead of "disclosed".

Also, imagine after the 3 month grace period ends and you start flagging or removing courses that are in breach of this policy, simply because they didn't declare that they used Udemy's own AI features. Does that sound like the kind of circumstances that this policy is trying to protect learners against?

3) It creates a disincentive to adopt Udemy's AI tools
This policy creates a direct conflict. You are offering instructors new tools to (presumably) improve their courses, but simultaneously punishing them for using those tools by forcing them to add a potentially negative disclosure (plus the threat of course removal if they're in breach of this policy).

If using a new Udemy AI feature means I must add a label that could scare away potential students, I will be far less likely to use that feature. This seems to be the exact opposite of the intended goal, which I assume is to encourage the adoption of these new tools.

So in summary, I think you need to reconsider the inclusion of "Udemy AI tools provided to instructors" in this policy.

Tom1

Surely a simple checkbox on the course management page should suffice ("outside of udemy ai tools, does this course contain the use of ai?"), then udemy can display a generic message to the student?

vseunath

I think disclosure is important. Creators will find out that you can save time on research and this is very help. BUT… there is no way to just use ANY content produced by AI. You have to do the work. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

vseunath

This is interesting…. fully AI-generated… it can't be good. I wonder if Udemy can track and publish the performance of such courses.

vseunath

I was told by Udemy to add it at the end of the course description

vseunath

Research is the only value I find. You have to know your subject matter and develop your own content…. I think. But… I have seen others make a lot of money with 100% AI generated courses… they were not good… very limited depth… terrible instructional design…. BUT… these guys are EXPERT SEO/Advertizing… so… I mean you can have a great course and make no money I guess. It will be interesting to see the direction Udemy takes with AI content. And just to clarify, I have been using several AI tools for a few years… the content is not great AND many times plain incorrect! lol

MSO112

Udemy's policy on the use of AI requires clarity and enforcement as there are tons of AI generated contents everywhere you look.

VincentTurn905

The email I use is no longer accessible. I have not been able to access my courses.