SOC 101 - Thomas

Log into My Coyote Success for three quick and relevant tutorials:

• 5 Tips for Ethical, Responsible Use of Generative AI (ChatGPT)
• 5 Tips for Using Generative AI (ChatGPT) as a Helpful Academic Tool
• 5 Tips for Using Generative AI to Create Resumes or Cover Letter

AI Ethics refers to using artificial intelligence resources morally and responsibly. If you do use AI for your assignments, it should be to enhance your learning experience, not replace your learning experience. Here are three points to be aware of:

1. Plagiarism is the act of using someone else's words or ideas as your own. Even though AI is not a "someone," it is still considered plagiarism if you use the text generated by AI and put your name on it. 

2. AI has been known to provide false citations to articles, books, or other sources that do not really exist. There have also been cases where AI cites fake information from real sources, so always double-check the citations provided to you.

3. Be aware that AI-generated information carries a bias. For example, if you do not fully ask a question, you may not get a full answer. Because humans are the ones training AI, it will carry our biases. One example is that if I asked for an image of a librarian, it might present an image of a female as that has been a traditionally female-dominated field. For more information on potential biases, please visit: https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/ai-bias

There are a few ways to use AI to enhance your learning. AI can:

• Help you outline your papers.
• Provide feedback on your writing such as checking for grammar, punctuation, or reviewing your writing style.
• Recommend resources.
• Brainstorm and help you learn more about your topic.
• Create study plans or identify important concepts to review.

Prompting is the practice of guiding or carefully phrasing things in a way that will help specialized AI tools to provide the best output. By providing AI tools with more context such as expectations, guidelines, a purpose, you will get better results. 

If AI tools are allowed by your professor, you must cite it to avoid cheating! 

Dalhousie University has created a library guide full of great information on how to cite AI with different citation styles such as APA, MLA, and Chicago: https://dal.ca.libguides.com/CitationStyleGuide/citing-ai. If you are unsure, you can ask your teacher or chat with a librarian for assistance at library.csn.edu/ask.