{"id":3851,"date":"2025-10-17T14:08:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T14:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/ed-tech\/?p=3851"},"modified":"2026-04-13T23:17:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T23:17:35","slug":"critical-ai-framework-how-to-approach-using-artificial-intelligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/ed-tech\/critical-ai-framework-how-to-approach-using-artificial-intelligence\/","title":{"rendered":"Critical AI Framework: How to Approach Using Artificial Intelligence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 1: Determine if AI is the Right Tool<\/h2>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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). <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To determine if AI is the right tool for the task, ask yourself the following crucial questions:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Does the task require novel, deep, or emotional human insight?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Will completing the task myself result in important learning? Will using AI prevent me from developing a crucial skill?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Will my personal voice be lost in the AI\u2019s generic response?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is this task academic work that requires me to demonstrate my own knowledge and skills (e.g., a final exam or an essay draft)?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 2: Read and Analyze the AI&#8217;s Output<\/h2>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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&#8217;s output, ask yourself the following critical questions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Does the response make sense in context?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Does it align with my understanding of the topic?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Identify the key points and details and ask\u2014is this correct? Do I agree or disagree with what the AI has said about the topic? Why do I feel that way?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are there logical leaps, inconsistencies, or confident but vague statements? These might be signs of \u201challucinations\u201d (AI making up facts) or a general lack of needed detail in the content.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 3: Think Critically, Make Changes, and Actively Engage with the Response<\/h2>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rearrange, delete, highlight, and update the AI\u2019s generated content by verifying critical claims against reputable, outside sources (e.g., scholarly journals, official websites).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask the AI follow-up questions to refine its output (e.g., &#8220;Can you provide a specific example for that point?&#8221; or &#8220;Can you please double check this information to verify it is factual?&#8221;).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask yourself whether you need more information from another source.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Combine the AI output with your existing knowledge and outside research to create a cohesive final product.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cite your use of AI. Refer to the <a href=\"https:\/\/guides.lib.purdue.edu\/c.php?g=1371380&amp;p=10135074\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Purdue AI Citation guide<\/a> for more information.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/ed-tech\/critical-ai-framework-how-to-approach-using-artificial-intelligence\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Critical AI Framework: How to Approach Using Artificial Intelligence&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4950,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[410],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artificial-intelligence"],"author_meta":{"display_name":"snoah","author_link":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/ed-tech\/author\/snoah\/"},"featured_img":null,"coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/ed-tech\/category\/artificial-intelligence\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Artificial Intelligence<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Artificial Intelligence<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 6 months ago","modified":"Updated 21 hours ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on October 17, 2025","modified":"Updated on April 13, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on October 17, 2025 2:08 pm","modified":"Updated on April 13, 2026 11:17 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4950"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3851"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7575,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3851\/revisions\/7575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu\/ed-tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}