How can learners use AI effectively and appropriately? What tasks can AI fulfill?
Generative AI can be an excellent writing aid, assist with project planning and time management, and in helping to understand literature, break down complex topics and explain terms.
Consider the below list, which is by no means exhaustive, and as AI tools develop they will have different applications and uses. For more on this topic, read this article.
Learn more on Training Resources: How can I use AI?
Accountability: CHAT GPT, for example, is not a human author or authors. Any output could contain mistakes or incorrect responses. There is no way to hold AI accountable.
Copyright Infringement: Currently, there is a lack of transparency on the use of copyrighted material to train Gen AI and indeed, on the ownership of who owns material produced by AI. You can read more about this topic, here.
Ethics: The ethics surrounding the use and management of AI is a fast developing field in its own right. We all have unique perspectives and this is also true for AI and as a society we need to work towards responsible and controlled use. You can find out more about the ethics and principles for AI use in education here.
Over-reliance: Users may rely too heavily on the content produced by AI tools. Although they are fantastic writing aids, critical awareness and evaluation still play an essential role. Can you fully trust content produced by AI tools? Additionally, over-reliance on AI tools has the ability to stifle creativity and problem solving, and disrupt critical thinking skills.
Potential biases in responses: In relation to trustworthiness, it is possible that Chat GPT may reproduce biases that it has "picked up" based on the world of text from the internet. Again, a user must be wary of this and carefully review, even fact-check any content produced by generative AI.
Always assess content that it produces! Is it appropriate?
Privacy: There are many concerns surrounding privacy that are simply too numerous to list here. However, consider that AI technology collects vast amount of data (some of it personal) and are designed to learn and improve through the analysis of this data. Quite rightly, as the collection and storing of personal data continues, we can ask the questions: Is it secure and how is it being used?
Please be aware that the above list is not exhaustive. You are encouraged to investigate the concerns about AI and its use.
Limited knowledge and lack of perception: ChatGPT is limited to the knowledge it absorbs from input and also lacks the ability to 'weigh up' scenarios. It cannot apply common sense to a scenario and lacks nuanced understanding of key human attributes, i.e., humour.
Critical thinking and deep learning: While it can generate logical and confident responses to most scenarios, it lacks any real ability to truly analyse information, context, and ultimately produce original thought. Critical awareness is a skill unique to humans and one that RCSI seeks to assist learners in developing.
Limitations based on datasets: Gen AI, such as Chat GPT, operates of large pools of datasets and thus, is limited or constrained by the information it is "trained" upon. It is not always up-to-date and more recent events do not form part of its training. There are also questions around inherent human bias affecting gen AI output.