These six principles have been developed by the University to help you to understand some of the pitfalls associated with AI, such as ethical issues or breaches of academic misconduct, privacy or copyright policies and laws.
AI is just another tool, but there are some factors you need to consider when you use it.
The output from AI tools may look good but is it all that it seems?
The University regulations now cover how and when you can use AI in your work.
It is important that the work you submit for assessment is of your own creative endeavour.
Ethical and responsible use of AI tools includes acknowledging how you have used them and referencing their contribution.
Alongside information and digital literacy, AI literacy will become an important graduate attribute for both the immediate and future landscape ahead.
Generative artificial Intelligence tools are an exciting new development in large language model technology to help source information or produce content in a range of different formats such as text, images, computer code, video, music and more. The tools are different to traditional internet search engines in that, rather than producing a list of separate search results, they amalgamate results into content or give a direct response to a question. To do this, many tools operate in a conversational way where a user creates a text ‘prompt’ to receive an answer or multimedia output, which can then be further refined.
These responses are a result of the AI tools scraping textual, visual or audio fragments of information from a huge internet database of websites, open access publications, newspapers, blogs, images and other freely available sources. On the surface, this appears to create new content, yet it is not original, only the product of this huge database of the collective work of others. AI tools cannot think, reason or critically evaluate; they function by statistical prediction, providing the next most likely word according to a particular context or likely sequence. However, they can ‘learn’ from the input that is given to them by a user, which can improve the accuracy and acceptability of their output. Such AI tools are rapidly developing and still in their infancy, but are currently being tested by their human creators, companies and society as users.
The output generated by artificial intelligence tools may appear convincing at first glance, but it can be incorrect, contain bias and fake citations, and references to sources which do not exist. The output is only as good as the AI tool’s training database, which may be inaccurate or out of date. Any output may therefore reproduce such factual inaccuracies and mathematical calculations and computer code may also be incorrect. If you are experimenting with AI tools, you should therefore use your critical thinking skills to fact check any output for currency and accuracy, and cross-check using other sources of information.
It is important to remember that AI training data is sourced from the work of others but this is not usually explicitly acknowledged by many AI tools so there is a hidden plagiarism. There may also be copyright issues with images and multimedia created and owned by others. Remember that if you use AI tools, you are helping the machine learn from your input, as you interact. Be careful not to enter any personal or confidential information, as it is currently not clear how this will be stored or processed.
University regulations currently state that you should only use AI tools in your assignments if you have been allowed to do so by your tutors. Some assignments may encourage you to use AI tools for a specific purpose or to critically evaluate the content that is produced, as part of the assessment and learning outcomes.
The University has identified different levels of AI use within assignments and your tutors will decide which level is the most appropriate for each task. The accepted level of use may be different for each assignment, and it will be specified in each assignment brief. However, if you are unsure, do check with your course or module tutors as to whether AI can be used or not. You should take responsibility for the work you submit for assessment, and this should not be outsourced.
It is important that the work you submit for assessment is of your own creative endeavour. The August 2023 edition of the University’s Academic Misconduct regulations state:
10.2.3 We do not expect you to use AI tools to contribute to the completion of your assessment or online exam unless you have been explicitly told that you can. If you are told you may use AI, then it should be appropriately referenced. Whilst the University is developing assessment modes in line with the development of AI Tools, current assessments have not been designed with AI tools in mind, so the use of such tools for their completion could impact on the integrity of your submission. The misuse of such tools could lead to investigation under the academic misconduct procedure.
The full regulations are available online.
It is good practice to keep copies of your work as it progresses, in the form of drafts and notes, just in case you are ever asked to explain how you have created your work. You should also be careful when using online writing assistance and proof-reading tools, such as Grammarly, as a few are starting to integrate AI writing capabilities. There is a difference in acceptability between a tool that suggests improvements compared to one that completely rewrites or produces new content for you.
Keep your own records, document your process and the tools you have used. The University has access to a Turnitin tool which can highlight text within assignments that may have been generated by unauthorised use of AI. Transparency on your part is paramount and it will mean that you are using AI tools in an ethical and responsible way.
Ethical and responsible use of AI tools includes acknowledging how you have used them and referencing their contribution. There are APA 7th formats for generative AI in the library referencing guide for generated text and generated images.
If your tutors have agreed use of AI tools for your assignment and you decide to directly quote or paraphrase the information, then provide both an in-text citation and full reference at the end of your work. You might also be required to explain how you have used AI tools, if this is part of your assignment. For transparency purposes, it is good practice to reference any AI tools that you have used in any early planning or for developing an assignment structure. AI Images and other multimedia content created either by you or others should also be referenced.
Artificial intelligence is starting to have a growing influence in society, business and the working world and it will be important for university students to develop skills in using such technology effectively, efficiently and ethically. Alongside information and digital literacy, AI literacy will become an important graduate attribute for both the immediate and future landscape ahead.
Your tutors are starting to seek out opportunities in which AI can be embraced as part of teaching, learning and assessment, and they will be working with you to help you develop the technological, critical-thinking and analytical skills needed to put AI tools to best use.
The Library Guide for AI is a great starting point for learning more and increasing your AI literacy.