What is ChatGPT? What are AI Tools?
ChatGPT is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool. It generates text in response to your prompts. But ChatGPT is only one example; there are many AI tools that can create or revise written text, images, music, or even video. Grammarly and QuillBot are considered generative AI tools, and more commonly, AI is being integrated into common tools like search engines (Bing, for example).
It is important to note that ChatGPT and other text-generating AI tools often share incorrect information. Although the information might look accurate, it is often not factual, or in some cases, it is entirely fabricated.
Can I use AI tools in my classes?
It depends! Always ask your instructor before using AI tools such as ChatGPT to complete your assignment. If AI tools are permitted, you still need to cite that information as having been generated using AI.
If an instructor specifies that no outside assistance is permitted on an assignment, then the use of any tool, including ChatGPT, is not permitted. Unless your instructor says that you may use an AI tool, you should assume that using AI tools is academic misconduct.
If you are allowed to use AI tools in your course, take time to critically analyze the output. Sometimes it looks great on the surface, but not when you look more deeply at the content. These tools are great synthesizers, but the critical thinker is you!
When is the use of AI tools considered Academic Misconduct?
If you use AI tools such as ChatGPT without permission from your instructor, that is unauthorized use and is considered academic misconduct.
Academic misconduct at RDP includes the "unauthorized use of materials or aids during any academic examination or for essays and assignments (e.g., smart devices, cheat sheets, material from file-sharing sites, or apps such as ChatGPT)" (from the RDP Academic Misconduct Procedure: Appendix A)
If you are permitted to use AI tools, but fail to cite the content you used or adapted into your own writing, this is plagiarism and is considered considered academic misconduct.
Academic misconduct at RDP includes "plagiarism, which involves passing off as one’s own the ideas, words, or work of someone else in an academic examination or other form of academic or creative work." (from the RDP Academic Misconduct Procedure: Appendix A)
Do I need to cite content generated by AI tools?
Yes! If you are allowed to use AI tools such as ChatGPT, you need to cite all of the content you use or adapt in your own writing.
To cite content from AI tools such as ChatGPT, please see the Library's citation guides:
Academic Integrity Alex says...
For help with citation, ask at the RDP Library!
