AI: Ethical Use

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 traffic light system shown below is what you will see within your assessments, it is also worth noting that there may be more detail on the use of AI in the assessment brief. 

If you are ever unsure which level is permittable, please seek the advice of your tutors who have set the assessment.

There are ongoing concerns over data protection when using AI tools. This is because there is no way of knowing what information may be stored and used in training the AI tool.  

Do not share any confidential or private information about yourself or others. Do check if there is an option opt out of data collection.

There may be times where you need help understanding a topic or perhaps more information on how to structure an assignment. Here are some examples of cases when it is ethical to use AI.

• Defining an unfamiliar term e.g. What does pedagogy mean?
• Providing an overview or an explanation of a topic. This should only be used as a starting point to grasp a topic and not used as a substitute for your own academic research. It is also worth noting that critical thinking applies and you must judge the reliability of the information. Please see the AI Limitations section of this guide. 
• As a study buddy to ask for advice rather than generating content. This could be helpful with revision by comparing your notes with that of AI to compare and contrast and further develop critical thinking and understanding. 
• Providing advice on time management techniques e.g. Create a to do list or schedule. 
• For examples of how to structure an assignment. This should be used purely for formatting and structuring purposes and not to generate content e.g. What does a good dissertation in nursing look like?
• To provide recommendations on research methods e.g. Can you recommend some techniques for a research interview in the social sciences?

When using large language models like CoPilot, you will need to create prompts. It is important to remember that the answers provided are based on your prompts therefore you get out of it what you put in. It is advisable that you be specific and add as much detail as possible as having a vague question will only create a vague answer. 

It is worth noting that the use of AI requires a large amount of power which has implications for green house gas emissions.

However, many advocates of AI claim that it may help to resolve issues like climate change and also may help resolve efficiency problem in certain industries. 

Generative AI may use work with copyright that has been uploaded to the tool without licensing or permission. The tool is therefore generating images, music art etc with a lack of knowledge about where the information has come from and its copyright status. 

AI tools like ChatGPT produce information from unidentified sources. It does not give credit to the authors or creators of the information and therefore questions intellectual property.