Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools offer incredible potential to enhance your learning experience and streamline your work. However, like any powerful tool, they come with responsibilities and important ethical considerations. Every time you think about using AI, you should take the following steps.
Step 1: Determine if AI is the Right Tool
Determine if AI is an appropriate tool to help with your task. If not, use another tool (such as a Google search, academic journal article, or course text). To determine if AI is the right tool for the task, ask yourself the following crucial questions:
- Does the task require novel, deep, or emotional human insight?
- Will completing the task myself result in important learning? Will using AI prevent me from developing a crucial skill?
- Is this use case truly worth the significant computational and energy cost required to run the AI? Or could I come to an answer using a more environmentally friendly medium?
- Will my personal voice be lost in the AI’s generic response?
- Is this task academic work that requires me to demonstrate my own knowledge and skills (e.g., a final exam or an essay draft)?
Step 2: Read and Analyze the AI’s Output
Avoid simply copying and pasting the response. Read through it carefully and analytically, treating the AI output like a piece of text written by an anonymous, sometimes unreliable, peer. To properly analyze the AI’s output, ask yourself the following critical questions:
- Does the response make sense in context?
- Does it align with my understanding of the topic?
- Identify the key points and details and ask—is this correct? Do I agree or disagree with what the AI has said about the topic? Why do I feel that way?
- Where is the information coming from? Does the AI cite its sources? If not, assume the information is unverified and requires external confirmation (e.g., authoritative sources such as Library Journal or academic databases).
- Are there logical leaps, inconsistencies, or confident but vague statements? These might be signs of “hallucinations” (AI making up facts) or a general lack of needed detail in the content.
Step 3: Think Critically, Make Changes, and Actively Engage with the Response
Use the AI as a starting point, not the final authority. Your intellectual effort is the most valuable part of the process. Once you have an initial response from AI, take the following steps to actively engage with that response:
- Rearrange, delete, highlight, and update the AI’s generated content by verifying critical claims against reputable, outside sources (e.g., scholarly journals, official websites).
- Ask the AI follow-up questions to refine its output (e.g., “Can you provide a specific example for that point?” or “Can you please double check this information to verify it is factual?”).
- Ask yourself whether you need more information from another source.
- Identify the key points from the output and place them in your own words to ensure you understand them. Ask yourself if you agree or disagree with the points.
- Combine the AI output with your existing knowledge and outside research to create a cohesive final product.
- Cite your use of AI. Refer to the Purdue AI Citation guide for more information.