Thing 19: AI and Ethical considerations in education
Definitions of AI are notoriously difficult to pin down as what is considered “intelligence” in machines keeps shifting. For example, asking a handheld device to recommend songs using spoken language would have been considered almost impossible even a couple of decades ago.
Recently, interest in AI has been fuelled by the success of Machine Learning, which uses algorithms to detect patterns and extract knowledge and insights from data for analysis and prediction purposes. This success has been fuelled by the internet, mobile devices, and sensing technology developments since the 1990s, and equally impressive growth in computing power that enables massive amounts of data to be processed by these algorithms. Researchers have greatly improved techniques like deep learning, understanding how to train more and more complex models effectively from structured and unstructured data.
https://www.ed.ac.uk/c/what-is-ai
The type of AI that is capturing the world’s attention right now is generative artificial intelligence which can generate text, images, or other media. Generative AI models learn the patterns and structure of their input (sensor, audio/video, speech, text) data and then generate new data that has similar characteristics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generative_artificial_intelligence
Current limitations of generative AI
Generative AI offers some benefits, but it also has its limitations, which you need to aware of:
- Generative AI tools are language machines rather than databases of knowledge – they work by predicting the next plausible word or section of programming code from patterns that have been ‘learnt’ from large data sets;
- AI tools have no understanding of what they generate. A knowledgeable human must check the work (often in iterations);
- The data sets that such tools are learning from are flawed and contain inaccuracies, biases and limitations;
- They generate text that is not always factually correct;
- They can create software/code that has security flaws, bugs, and use illegal libraries or calls – or infringe copyrights;
- Often the code or calculation produced by AI will look plausible but contain errors in detailed working on closer inspection. A human trained in that programming language should fully check any code or calculation produced in this way;
- The data their models are trained on is not up to date – they currently have limited or constrained data on the world and events after a certain point (2021 in the case of ChatGPT);
- They can generate offensive content;
- They produce fake citations and references;
- Such systems are amoral – they don’t know that it is wrong to generate offensive, inaccurate or misleading content;
- They include hidden plagiarism – meaning that they make use of words and ideas from human authors without referencing them, which we would consider as plagiarism;
- There are risks of copyright infringements on pictures and other copyrighted material.
Ethical use of AI and coursework
The University position is not to impose a blanket restriction on the use of generative AI, but rather to:
- Emphasise the expectation that assignments should contain students’ own original work;
- Highlight the limitations of generative AI and the dangers of relying on it as a source of information;
- Emphasise the need to acknowledge the use of generative AI where it is (permitted to be) used.
Some assignments may explicitly ask you to work with AI tools and to analyse and critique the content it generates, others may specify that AI tools should not be used, or only used in specific ways. Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT) is developing rapidly and can be useful for certain tasks. However, you must use it ethically, which for academic work means not claiming output from generative AI tools is your own work. Doing so would be regarded as academic misconduct.
Before using generative AI, check with your tutor or supervisor if it is allowed within your School or in relation to a specific assignment. If you do use generative AI content within your work, then you should reference this as you would any other information. Cite Them Right provides guidance on how to reference generative AI in different referencing styles. You will need to log in using your student ID and password and then search for ‘generative AI’.
Cite Them Right – generative AI
If you use generative AI to help with any aspect of your assignment (for example, to help plan the structure) you should still acknowledge this, even if you did not use any content within your work. Make it clear which tool you used, what it was used for, and the date you used it.
When using generative AI it is important that you:
- Understand the limitations of any AI system you are using;
- Check the factual accuracy of the content it generates;
- Do not rely on AI generated content as a key source – use it in conjunction with other sources.
How to complete Thing 19
Step 1
Read the University guides for students on AI use and academic work:
Generative Artificial Intelligence guidance for students
Step 2
Write a blog post reflecting on ways in which it would and would not be acceptable to use generative AI in your course work. Bonus kudos if you check for any specific guidelines or position on AI by your School or course.
