AI Policy

Please read carefully this file, 000-AI-POLICY.txt .
To summarize, you must still write the first draft of all of
your code by yourself, without the help of AI.

You then have two options for doing the assignment.  You can
choose not to use any AI.  In that case, include in your
submission a file named
     AI.txt
that says:  I did not use any AI.

Or else, you may choose to use AI to help you _learn_.
You must still write the first draft by yourself.
Then, when you are debugging your assignment, you are allowed to ask
AI questions about two things:
 (i) How Linux system calls work.  That is always acceptable, and
     you don't need to report that in your AI.txt file.  Simply
     write in AI.txt, that you only asked AI about Linux itself
     and not about this assignment.
 (ii) Why you are seeing certain bugs in your code.  You can upload
     your current code to the AI and give it your error message.
     But this type of conversation _MUST_ be copied into your
     AI.txt file.  It should include your questions and the AI response.

In summary, if you are debugging and ask about errors in your
program, _whether or not you upload your code to the AI_, then
you _MUST_" copy-paste that full conversation into your file:
   AI.txt

Furthermore, if you used AI _at all_ in your debugging, then
you must add a file:
  AI-implementation.txt
    In that file, write _in your own words_ what your program does, and how
your own implementation works.  As needed refer to relevant function
names and variable names in your explanation.
    Then start a _new_ session with your AI agent.  Do _not_ continue
your original conversation in which you asked debugging questions.
    In this _new_ AI session, upload to the AI all of your files for
the assignment, and then write to the AI that you have a summary
of how the program works, and you would like the AI to give critical
comments on whether your summary is correct.  The copy-paste your
summary for the AI, and push the "ENTER" button.

Once you have given the AI your summary of how the code works,
and received the answer from the AI, paste both items into:
  AI-implementation.txt

====
RATIONALE:
    Our graders will be reading your AI-implementation.txt file as well as
your code.  If they feel that you don't show a true understanding of
_your own_ code, then we can call you in for a short, one-on-one oral quiz
to see how well you understand your own code.  If you don't understand
your own code sufficiently, you will receive a zero for that assignment.

    The policy of submitting AI.txt and AI-implementation.txt is to
help you in your future career.  In the past, some students have relied
on "prompt engineering" to fix several bugs in the code that they wrote.
The danger is that they don't always understand their own code, after the
AI has transformed their code to remove bugs.  In your future career,
you will see that an AI can accelerate your productivity.  But if
even you don't understand the code that you write, then your company
or institute will eventually classify your code as "not maintainable".
In the end, writing code that can't be maintained would greatly hurt
your career and reputation.