Using AI with integrity – guidance for learners

Artificial Intelligence – commonly referred to as “AI” – has many definitions, but essentially it is the over-arching term used to describe any advancements in computing, systems and technology whereby computer programs can perform tasks or solve problems that apply reasoning that is typically associated with human intelligence. Let’s face it, everyone has a view on AI. Its applications are intended to bring about positive changes in society, such as improving productivity, healthcare and education.

Whatever our view, AI is here to stay and will become part of our lives if not already.

As a learning and development provider, we [Adalta] recognise  and embrace the value of AI in education, and this blog has been written to provide valuable advice and guidance to help all our learners ethically engage with AI in their studies and maintain good practice in advancing learning.

Firstly, I’d like to dispel the myth that using AI in education is ‘bad’. We embrace technological advancement. We live in a digital age and advocate the use of technology to advance personal and professional development – provided it is done ethically and with integrity.

I would also like to begin by openly and transparently acknowledging my personal use of ChatGPT (https://chat.openai.com/) in writing this blog. I used it further inform and develop my own understanding in this topic, using prompts, ‘What is the role of AI in education’, and ‘Effective use of AI in education’. No information has been used directly in this blog, however the findings prompted further questions, which led me to undertake lateral reading to critically evaluate the digital information presented to further inform and revise my work.

See what I did there?

Yes, I used AI in my research, referenced its use accordingly and as a result have advanced my own learning and understanding.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and applaud those of you who actively use AI themselves to advance their own learning, provided it is used to study with integrity.

So what exactly does it mean to study with integrity?

When we talk about ‘Academic integrity’, we refer to a learner’s ability to demonstrate their development as an independent learner, researcher and critical thinker, including maintaining good academic practice. As a professional learning and development provider, we expect all our learners to complete their studies honestly and ethically, having respect for the work of others and recognising their responsibilities to produce work that is their own.

Academic offenses such as plagiarism, collusion, fabrication, or falsification, undermine Adalta’s ethos of advancement through personal and professional learning and growth and our vision to create better led organisations.

The overarching purpose of assessment is to demonstrate your understanding and ability to gain, analyse and apply new knowledge skills and behaviours gained through your programme of learning to your assessors. Passing off work as your own when it is not – including machine generated content from AI – means that you are not demonstrating your own skills and learning. As well as limiting your learning and development, it is highly unethical and classed as an academic offence, which can lead to disqualification from the qualification or programme you are on.

How to use AI to support and enhance learning

There are a lot of AI tools out there, and the different tools/platforms offer help with a range of things that can support learning and the production of your work, for example planning and preparation of work, especially in ideas generation and general research, generating answers to questions, exploring multiple perspectives on a topic, developing writing style, checking grammar, rewording tools. Some common tools/platforms are listed below (correct at the time of publication of this blog):

• Chatbots (ChatGPT, Claude 2, Bing AI)
• Content creation (Jasper, Copy.ai, Anyword)
• Grammar checkers and rewording tools (Typeset.io, Grammarly, Wordtune, ProWritingAid, Wordvoice)
• Video creation and editing (Descript, Wondershare Filmora, Runway)
• Image generation (DALL·E 3, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion)
• Voice and music generation (Murf, Splash Pro, AIVA)
• Knowledge management and AI grounding (Mem, Notion AI Q&A, Personal AI)
• Task and project management (Asana, Any.do, BeeDone)
• Transcription and meeting assistants (Fireflies, Airgram, Krisp)
• Scheduling (Reclaim, Clockwise, Motion)
• Email inbox management (SaneBox, Mailbutler, EmailTree)
• Slide decks and presentations (Decktopus, Beautiful.ai, Slidesgo)

5-point Checklist for using AI to support your learning and develop your work

1. Familiarise yourself with generative AI tools/platforms
   There are many types of tools, depending on what you want to do – as outlined above. The most popular is ChatGPT, the original popular Chatbot launched November 2022, although the use of an AI tool is largely dependent on what you want to use it for.

2. Recognise the limitations of AI
   AI tools can, and often do, get things wrong. Never simply accept the output as a given. You should apply your judgment concerning its reliability, and fact check the information provided. Many AI tools are unable to reference their sources and you will find that citations are often inaccurate. AI is only able to generate responses based on the information it is trained on and the available dataset, which may not be current and could be biased.
   Another consideration is that AI tools rely on multiple data sources, so subjects that are widely written about are likely to draw more comprehensive outputs. More specialist or niche topics, including cutting edge research, is less likely to be reliable.
   Most importantly, AI tools can’t apply human critical thinking or the development of an well-evidenced argument. Whilst they can synthesise information they can’t make conclusions. Only the learner themselves can draw the conclusions that enable them to translate knowledge into meaningful, contextualised real world application of skills and behaviours. This requires higher-level thinking skills.
3. Do not use AI technology or another person (including an essay writing service) to complete your work for you. AI technology can be a valuable digital assistant to support you in your learning, but when it comes to assessment, you need to be confident that the work you submit is your own. You must always acknowledge where you have used the work of others, including acknowledging how and where you have used AI.
4. Maintain integrity in producing work
   Any work that you produce for assessment must be your own. It should showcase your own learning, thoughts and conclusions, reflecting your own voice and writing style. Generally speaking, if you are using generative AI to support you learning and academic development, you are unlikely to need to acknowledge it. However, if you are using it to support the preparation of an assessed piece of work, you will need to acknowledge and/or reference it. Where you have included ideas or material that you did not create yourself, When using AI tools to support your learning and in the development of your work you must maintain good academic practice, which includes acknowledgement through accurate referencing – see next point.
5. Openly and transparently acknowledge the use of AI technologies in work produced. This essentially means describing how you have used Generative AI in the process of creating work for assessment. While you may not have used the content directly as a source of information in a quotation or citation, to maintain good academic practice and the fairness of assessment, you must acknowledge this contribution. You can demonstrating critical use of AI tools by acknowledging how, why, and when you used AI to inform your approach to the assessment or as part of the writing process. Articulating how and where AI has informed or supported your work will allow you to demonstrate the development of your own learning while avoiding academic misconduct.