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What You Should Know About AI

Artificial intelligence systems are changing quickly, with new tools and capabilities being released every few days. When considering AI tools beyond what the University offers, you should be aware of the following: 

Privacy Risks: 

In most cases, the information, prompts, and questions you share with AI are not private and may be accessible by external parties hosting the tools based on generative AI (GenAI). Many GenAI tools will store the prompts you enter for further training and development of the tool. Do not share information that is considered private or sensitive, such as credit card information, addresses, identification numbers, or other personal details. Familiarize yourself with the ethical considerations when using content with AI before you upload any content that you did not create to an AI tool.

Learn to Use: 

Educate yourself on how to use these tools more effectively through resources such as this Student Guide to Artificial Intelligence by the Imagining the Digital Future Center, which aims to help students “become skilled in using AI comfortably, effectively, safely and ethically.” JMU Libraries also offers self-paced learning opportunities. 

Consider the ethics of using GenAI: 

If you use AI, please keep in mind:  

  • GenAI is not sentient:   
    GenAI models, or Large Language Models (LLMs), might appear to possess sentience, consciousness, or self-awareness (as a human would), but they do not. GenAI are computer systems that create content similar to the content they were “trained” on (or provided when they were created), and which continues to be refined. The tools are designed to give you the most likely, or most common, responses possible based on the data available and they invariably tend to suppress less common or marginalized information. 
  • GenAI is biased:   
    GenAI tools carry implicit biases that make them unsuitable for use in cases of ethical deliberation and decision; they should not be used in these circumstances. Furthermore, they operate on data from the past, which results in a loss of context for current social changes. 
  • GenAI can mislead:   
    GenAI tools can ‘hallucinate’ information. In other words, they may provide responses that includes false or non-existent information. These tools have no sense of what is true or false. They are built to offer the most likely response that they “think” you want, in a verbose manner, even if there might not be enough real information to back their responses up.  
  • GenAI prefers English:   
    LLMs are currently heavily biased toward Standard American English. This means that writing styles and dialects of other cultures and ethnic groups may not be present in the dataset; this may limit the responses and outputs you receive. 

With that in mind, here are some basic guidelines that can help you use GenAI ethically in your academics: 

  • Be aware of JMU guidance related to AI to ensure your data privacy and security.  
  • Talk to your professor about how and where GenAI-based tools may be used in your courses. Seek clarity on your professors’ expectations about using and citing GenAI-based tools; ask questions if you aren’t clear after reading the course’s syllabus.  
  • Do not assume that the information you receive from GenAI is true without checking the citations that it provides or researching its answers in other ways. You can also reach out to a Liaison Librarian for assistance in your research. 
  • GenAI-based tools are just that: tools that you wield. The questions, prompts, and content you enter into an AI tool can determine the quality of the information you receive from it. AI tools do not replace the need to think critically and solve problems as an individual. These tools should be used to support your academic growth, not to replace your effort or experiences.  

Get Help 

Experts in the Libraries can meet with you to help you understand the use of GenAI in your academic journey. Reach out to your Liaison Librarian or request a consultation and select “Artificial Intelligence in Research, Teaching, and Learning.” 

Note: Some information on this page is based on U-M Guidance for Students from University of Michigan.