Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Information Literacy

Alongside the new possibilities of these AI-based tools, there are a good number of things to be careful about as you assess if and when you want to use them. Start thinking through major considerations in this two-minute overview video from Katie Shilton, Associate Professor in the College of Information Studies and Co-Director of the BS in Social Data Science at University of Maryland, Co-PI of The Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law & Society (TRAILS).

There are some ways ChatGPT and similar tools can be used that don’t replace you doing your own work but may help you.

You should use these tools to help you come up with ideas instead of writing your paper for you.

Refine search queries for databases (provided by the library) and search engines (for example, Google or Bing):

• “I’m going to search for this topic. Can you help me find the best search query?”
• “What else would I need to know to search for this?”
• “What would you recommend?”
• “What other keywords can I use for this topic?”
• Search Google for keywords and then ask ChatGPT: “I’m going to search for ____ and ____. What is the best way to combine these words and topics?”

Other great ways to use ChatGPT include:

• Brainstorming to help you overcome the blank page and generate ideas.
• Outlining.
• Comparing and contrasting.
• Asking it to explain how to solve a problem and break down your assignment into smaller pieces.
• Ask it to explain something from a different perspective than your own.

While it may seem like a miraculous tool, there are a lot of problems with generative AI.

• The content it creates may not be accurate, up to date, factual, or unbiased.
• It often “hallucinates” (makes up) information, especially things like facts, book titles, essay titles, and other academic sources/citations/references.
• It was not trained equally on all subjects. It has more knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and math than it does humanities.
• It lacks creativity and only follows the patterns it has been trained to follow.
• It cannot think for itself.
• It is biased.
• We are biased. We want to hear and believe what matches what we think.
• Artificial intimacy may draw you in. Because it tries to be your friend, it may make you believe what it’s saying.

Can you trust that the information you receive from these AI-based tools is correct? Not without double checking. Many chatbots such as ChatGPT were designed to produce content that seems realistic. They will produce inaccurate content with the same level of confidence as accurate content and it's up to you to determine which is which. You'll need to employ a variety of strategies to double check information before assuming it is correct. Check out the Lateral Reading page to learn more.

Where does the content come from? Because machine learning takes huge inputs of data sets, many models use information from the internet in their training. Artists and authors have criticized AI-based tools for using their work without compensation or credit. If an AI-based image generator can produce work in the style of a certain artist, should that be seen as stealing, or paying homage?

While it may be tempting to think of an output from an AI-based tool as neutral when it comes to bias, that is not the case. Since machine learning models are trained on real world datasets, and since the world contains bias, outputs from these models may replicate or even exacerbate biases we see in the world around us.

It is safe to assume that -- in some way or another -- any information you put into a AI-based tool is being used to further train the machine learning model. If you choose to use these tools, you'll want to make sure you're never putting personal or secure information about you or anyone else in your chats. You should also read through any user agreements if you sign up to use a particular service and make your own decision if you are comfortable agreeing to the terms. If one of your class projects requires the use of a particular technology that you do not wish to create an account for, you can ask your instructor for an alternative way to complete the assignment. 

More avenues to explore:

• Get an in-depth look at machine learning and what ChatGPT is doing 
• Explore different generative AI tools in this guide from The University of Sydney
• For more on copyright and labor questions, check out an analysis of the websites being used to train AI tools, read about the experiences of content moderators, explore the question of whether DALL-E's art is borrowed or stolen, and read about comedian Sarah Silverman and other artists and authors suing OpenAI and Meta for copyright infringement.
• Learn about bias in AI: the gender shades video walks through a study of how well popular face-recognition software identifies people of different genders and skin types.
• Explore an interactive graphic outlining different harm considerations of Large Language Models for universities to think about.