The use of any AI tool requires the consideration of its ethical implications. These implications relate to the tool itself, including how it is designed, developed, trained, and intended to be used. But these implications also relate to how you use the tool, including output verification, academic and research integrity, and citations.
The most important thing you can do when using an AI tool-–and the most important thing you can teach others about using AI tools—is to always think critically.
- Do not assume the output is correct - verify the output and the sources of the output. If there is no way to verify the output, consider that a red flag.
- Consider prompting the AI tool in a number of different ways, using a variety of keywords, to confirm you get consistent responses/outputs.
- Think about how the output may impact others. How might some outputs put certain people at risk or give other people an unfair advantage?
- Think about how the information you are providing as input will be used. Your inputted information is likely not private and could be used in future versions of the tool. Read the terms and conditions and the privacy policies of each AI tool you use.
- Just because the output is from an AI does not mean a human was not involved in its creation. And it does not mean you can use that output as your own. Not all training data was obtained legally or ethically, and all output needs to be properly acknowledged or cited.
