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Students are often confused about how, and in what way, they are allowed to use artificial intelligence in their education, and specifically in their research, writing, and other creative activities. View the following presentation and (open to full screen and use the navigation arrows at the bottom). Access these links to TWU's policy and guidelines for AI use.
https://prezi.com/view/it5qucCUYXQC67RvuThc/
The university has a policy and a set of guidelines on the use of AI at TWU. Both are PDF downloads.
A recent challenge has come from using AI as a search engline to generate bibliographies. Word to the wise: Do not ask AI to find books and articles. It may identify a few that are real, but it will often just invent citations that do not exist in real life. AI is a dangerously inadequate search tool that has no conscience about creating citations to books and articles that can't actually be found because they are not real.
There has been a notion that using AI to write text or create media is not plagiarism, because plagiarism is using another person's work without indicating you are doing so. AI is not a person, so how can generating AI products be plagiarism? The problem here is that your definition of plagiarism is wrong:
Plagiarism is pretending that work you did not personally generate is yours (when it is not). It's fraud, misrepresentation.
Where you got your material is not really important. If you cause your reader or viewer to believe that the product came from you when it didn't, you are plagiarizing.
So, what are the guidelines?
1. All of us now have spell-checkers and grammar-checkers in our word processors. Cleaning up language and avoiding basic errors has become legitimate.
2. Generation of actual content - sentences, paragraphs, images, other media - gives the impression that you are the creator. If AI is the real creator and you fail to acknowledge that, you are plagiarizing.
3. If you do use AI for anything other than basic spelling and grammar checking, you must cite it just like you would any other source. There are detailed instructions on formatting in the box below.
4. Remember that using AI as your servant to generate material that your prof wants you to produce yourself robs you of the opportunity to develop your own critical thinking and research skills, can have you submitting AI-generated errors, and can bring the consequences of plagiarism down upon you. Basic rule: Never let AI do what your professor expects you do for yourself.
If you need further guidance, consult with your professor or contact one of our librarians.
Major formatting systems have provided instruction on how to cite AI in your work if you rely on AI:
Land Acknowledgement
Trinity Western University's Langley campus is located on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Stó:lō people. We are grateful for the opportunity to live, work, and learn on this land.
