John Hibbert, Media and Film Subject Advisor

The rapid and ongoing advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools bring both benefits and challenges to education and assessment. 

In this blog, I highlight the guidance available for managing AI use in GCSE and A Level Media Studies and A Level Film Studies. I’ll also cover how to deal with misuse in assessments.

What is AI?

AI tools generate text or images in response to user prompts and questions. The responses of AI tools are based on the data sets that they have been trained on. ChatGPT is the best-known example of an AI chatbot, but many other chatbots and tools are available.

Use of AI in media and film

Some uses of AI are already well-established within the media and film industries, including its use in personalised content recommendation systems. Generative AI use is becoming increasingly widespread across different media sectors and within the film industry. This includes its use to write news stories and in a wide range of media production processes such as in the creation of visual effects in film and television.

AI tools are increasingly being integrated into media production software such as Photoshop. AI is becoming a key part of media production and post-production across sectors including publishing, film and video production, animation and video games.

AI tools 

AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini all offer opportunities for helping students explore relevant concepts and content for digital media, but carry risks of misuse for work submitted as part of the Non-exam Assessment (NEA). 

Platforms focused specifically on the creation of images or video such as Midjourney, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion and Deforum could also be misused by students when creating work for the NEA. 

Many existing programs and platforms that students use for their production work, such as Canva and Adobe Creative Cloud apps like Photoshop, Premiere Pro and Firefly, incorporate AI tools.

Appropriate use of AI

Whether the use of AI by students is appropriate for a given task will depend on the marking criteria and nature of the task.

Use of AI for exam units

Most appropriate uses of AI in media and film studies will relate to its use to prepare students for the exam units and supporting general teaching and learning. These might include:

• to support homework 
• flipped learning activities
• note-taking 
• research 
• creating glossaries of key terms. 

You can prompt AI tools such as ChatGPT to produce written content suitable for a specific target audience. For example you could ask it to produce a definition of mise-en-scene suitable for 14-year-olds to support your GCSE students. 

AI can be a useful starting point for students to investigate a specific topic or theme. For example, you could ask it to explain the aesthetic of one of the set films for A Level Film Studies or to provide an overview of public service broadcasting in Britain for A Level Media Studies. It’s worth bearing in mind that information provided by AI can include errors so should be checked for accuracy.

Use of AI in NEA

For the NEA units, AI can be used as a research tool. Students could use AI to investigate the conventions of their intended product. For A Level Film Studies, they could use it to explore narrative techniques and structures. For the A Level Media Studies NEA briefs, students could research the industry context provided. Students could also use AI in the planning process to help organise or visualise their ideas, but they must make sure that they are fully responsible for all design choices. 

AI tools are included in a range of software and platforms, such as Photoshop, which are used in production work. Students can use these tools to edit their own original content as long as they maintain control of all design decisions. For example, it would be permissible for students to use an AI tool to achieve a specific effect in their original photography such as removing a background. 

If students do use AI when producing work for assessment, they must acknowledge its use and clearly indicate how they have used it.

Inappropriate use of AI

Like plagiarism, AI can be used by students to create work which they then try to pass off as their own. Where a student has used AI to complete all or some of their work, they are not demonstrating their own knowledge, understanding and application of skills. This may prevent the candidate from presenting their own authentic evidence.

Examples of AI misuse include:

• using or modifying AI responses without acknowledgement
• disguising the use of AI
• using it for substantial sections of work.

You can support your students by:

• teaching them about appropriate use of AI in media and film studies
• demonstrating how to reference AI correctly where its use is appropriate
• having clear policies for AI use within your department. 

Submitting content generated by AI for assessment would not allow students to independently demonstrate they have met the requirements of the mark scheme. Inappropriate uses of AI in the NEA for media and film studies would include using it to generate written content images or footage in work submitted.

Students should avoid use of AI tools in production work which results in them not being able to show they have independently met the required criteria.

GCSE and A Level Media Studies 

Students should not use AI to generate written content for use in their media productions for the NEA. Inappropriate uses would include: 

• using AI-generated text for the double page spread article for the GCSE Media Studies magazine brief 
• using AI-generated text in website productions
• using AI to write the Statement of Intent

If students use AI to generate images or footage to use in their productions, these should be treated as found content. 

For GCSE Media Studies, some use of found content is permissible. Specific guidance on the use of found content is given in the GCSE Media Studies NEA briefs. 

For A Level Media Studies, students must use original content in their production work. AI-generated images or footage should not be used in production work for A Level Media Studies. If students have used AI-generated content this should be treated as found content and not credited when the work is marked. Further guidance on the use of found content in NEA productions can be found on p.40 of the specification. 

A Level Film Studies 

Inappropriate uses of AI in the NEA for A Level Film Studies would include:

• the writing of the evaluation 
• the writing of the screenplay for the screenplay and storyboard NEA option 
• creating images for the storyboard for the screenplay and storyboard NEA option 

For students completing the screenplay and storyboard NEA option, the specification requires a digitally photographed storyboard, and all storyboard frames must be original photographic images. AI-generated images cannot be credited when work is marked.

What to do when candidates misuse AI in assessments

Teachers must not accept work which is not the student’s own. Ultimately the Head of Centre is responsible for ensuring that students do not submit inauthentic work.

If you suspect AI misuse before the student has signed the declaration of authentication, your centre doesn’t need to report the malpractice to Cambridge OCR. You can resolve the matter before signing the declarations.

If you suspect AI misuse within candidate work after formal submission and signing of the authentication sheet, you must report it. Report concerns with a JCQ M1 form: see the JCQ AI guidance, available on the Malpractice section of the JCQ website. Please email your completed forms to OCR at malpractice@ocr.org.uk.

Further support

Please refer to the JCQ AI use in assessments: Protecting the integrity of assessment document for further information on managing the use of AI within your assessments.

We also have a range of support resources, included recorded webinars, on our AI support page.

Stay connected

If you have any questions, you can email us at media@ocr.org.uk or call us on 01223 553998. You can also sign up for subject updates for the latest news, resources and support.

Thinking of teaching any of our qualifications? Use our online form to let us know, so that we can help you with more information.

About the author

John Hibbert has been Subject Advisor for Media and Film Studies since 2018. Before joining Cambridge OCR John taught a range of media and film studies qualifications in secondary schools, and was a head of department for the last eight years. Predictably, in his spare time he is a keen filmgoer, and in addition enjoys reading and miserable indie music.

Related blogs

• How are we supporting teachers with artificial intelligence?