Artificial intelligence
Guidelines for UCSD Students
Using artificial intelligence (AI) can be a powerful and positive tool for students, both in their academic pursuits and personal development. Here is some guidance and tips for students on how to use AI in a positive way:
Tip 1: Understand the Basics of AI. Before diving into AI apps, take the time to understand what AI is, how it works and its potential impact on society. This will help you make informed decisions about its use.
Tip 2: Use AI technology with an understanding of its limitations and potential biases. OpenAI, the development company behind ChatGPT, state themselves that the platform can sometimes produce ‘plausible sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers’. The software is also sensitive to the prompt given by the user. In one phrasing of a question, ChatGPT may not claim to know the answer but given a re-phrase, it can provide an answer. It is also important to remember that AI algorithms are created by humans and may be skewed to reflect the biases of their creators.
Tip 3: Use AI technology responsibly and with academic and professional integrity in your learning. You should be using a wide range of reliable and credible sources for your learning and assessment preparation. AI can be used responsibly and with academic integrity to help with your learning and to plan assessments. It can help to give you inspiration to start you off or a basic structure, but you should not be reliant on it for your learning and assessment preparation.
Tip 4: Use AI technology as a tool to help with the planning of work and content. AI generated work must not be treated as an ‘end in itself’, but as part of the learning process and often the start of an idea, or a skeleton, on which the student must build their own ideas and add their own personality to the work.
Tip 5: Follow the instructions and guidance provided by staff on how to use AI technology. Specifically relating to points on ethics and responsibility, students must not use AI platforms for inappropriate prompts and requests.
Tip 6: Use AI technology ethically and with academic and professional integrity for your assessments. Always strive to have academic and professional integrity, demonstrating ethical and responsible use of a range of sources to produce your assessed work. All work that you submit for assessment must be your own work, and if you use information from other sources, it must be paraphrased (rather than copied) and reference appropriately in line with CiteThemRight.
Tip 7: Avoid academic offences. If you create all your own work for assessment and use referencing effectively, you should avoid academic offences. However, academic offences including plagiarism are not acceptable in an educational context. Plagiarism is defined as taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as your own without paraphrasing and referencing any sources of information. If you want support in learning how to use sources with academic and professional integrity, to paraphrase and reference work, please contact [email protected]
University Centre South Devon uses Turnitin, a web-based originality checker that reviews students’ submitted assessments. It does not detect plagiarism, but can indicate that work submitted for assessment may have been copied or reproduced from other sources, or created by AI. Turnitin creates an AI score that is visible to academic staff, but you will not see this score on your submitted work or feedback.
Academic staff will use the Turnitin AI score, together with their knowledge of your previous work, formative and draft submissions, and ongoing learning, to help inform their decision as to whether there is grounds to submit a case of an alleged an academic offence.
If any form of academic offence is suspected within your work your teacher will refer your work to the HE Quality Office who will commence an investigation into the alleged academic offence. Depending on the severity, you may be considered in breach of the relevant Academic Offences Policy (depending on your qualification’s awarding body), see https://www.ucsd.ac.uk/student-life/essential-information/academic-regulations-and-procedures-and-policies/.
Tip 8: Stay Informed! AI is a rapidly evolving field. Stay updated with the latest advancements, research and trends.
Remember, any work that is submitted for assessment must be your own. If you have used AI or other sources to support your assessment development, it must be stated and fully referenced in accordance with CiteThemRight.