Generative artificial intelligence tools are trained by large amounts of data where AI learns how to connect words and images. There are many different AI tools that have various purposes. Common AI tasks are text generation, image generation, question and answer, problem solving, code writing, summarizing and synthesizing text, writing essays, and language translation. All AI outputs require evaluation on its legitimacy and if the output use is ethical.
Artificial intelligence is not perfect or foolproof and there are a few ethical issues that you should know before using AI.
These general purpose tools are helpful for brainstorming, outlining papers, editing text, writing emails, and other similar tasks.
Last updated in March 2025
When using AI for research, make sure to apply lateral reading techniques and try to read the original sources before coming to a conclusion about a topic.
Disclaimer: Most of these tools will require creating an account with the AI tool. Please read the terms and conditions. This list is not exhaustive or an endorsement of any AI tools. Use your own judgment on which tools would be best for your needs.
Last updated in March 2025
Last updated in March 2025
It can be tempting to use AI writing detectors but often these detectors can have false negatives and/or false positives and aren't always reliable. Furthermore, often students who don't speak English as their first language are more prone to false AI positives.
For transparency, consider including information in your class syllabus of AI detection tools that you are using.
The following links include more information about AI detector tools.
AI can be useful for brainstorming, outlining, editing, simplifying, and more.
However, AI isn't accurate or objective, therefore not the best place to find facts or information. In the case that the AI output includes information that you're not sure is true, you can start checking AI's claims with a technique called lateral reading.
Usually when reading sources, we read vertically down the source, however this can be misleading because even well-designed AI outputs or websites can be sharing misinformation. Instead of vertical reading, we can read laterally where we read other sources to evaluate AI's output. For more information on lateral reading, watch this Crash Course video. With AI and any source that is used, it is important to utilize critical thinking to think about the bias and viewpoint that the text has. Any source will have a point of view or argument that is impacted by the author's ideologies and social factors including AI because it is trained by human data that has the same bias. We encourage you to not take any information at face value.
Teach AI Literacy
For help with teaching lateral reading, here is a link to lessons that cover different aspects of lateral reading from Civic Online Reasoning (need to create a free account with COR to access teacher materials).
The following are links to fact checking websites
The following links relate to navigating pedagogy and AI use. For more help with instruction, reach out to the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.
Prompts are instructions to perform a task and generate an output from a large language model.
The more specific the instructions are, the better generative AI input. After the initial input, you can add further instructions or clarify particular parts of the previous output response. Specific instructions would look like providing context and clarity for the task the generative AI needs to perform which will lead to better outputs or results. Prompt engineering may require multiple angles of a prompt to generate the best results.
Components of a Useful Prompt
Common words used in prompting
Here are links to more information about prompt engineering
You do need to give credit for ChatGPT and other AI tools which can simply be acknowledged in the text. If it is required to have a citation, then Chicago recommends only creating a footnote or endnote. URL isn't an essential element of the citation because often links to the conversation can't be shared via link.
Prompt already included in the paper:
Text generated by [name of the AI tool], date, Company that made the tool, URL.
Prompt not yet included in the paper:
[Name of the AI tool], response to "prompt," date text was generated, Company that made the tool.
Prompt already included in paper:
Text generated by ChatGPT, March 7, 2023, OpenAI.
Prompt not yet included in paper:
ChatGPT, response to "Explain how to make pizza dough from common household ingredients," March 7, 2023, OpenAI.
Artificial intelligence isn't going anywhere. An AI policy can be helpful for students to know what the appropriate uses of AI in your classroom are. Components to consider including would be the rationale behind the policy, the ethical use of AI, AI limitations, definition of acceptable use, and steps that would be taken if plagiarism has occurred.
The following are policy examples that other faculty members have created relating to AI use in the classroom as well as framing an AI policy.
Adapted from "Fine Tuning Prompts for AI Tools" from the "Artificial Intelligence Guide" by Bronte Chiang, University of Calgary Library which is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Adapted from "AI and Information Literacy" module by University of Maryland University Libraries and the Teaching and Learning Transformation Center (TLTC) which is licensed under CC BY NC 4.0
Adapted from the "AI Literacy in the Age of ChatGPT" instructor guide by University of Arizona Libraries which is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Adapted from "Evaluative Information Literacy Rubric for AI Tools" by Marissa Caico, Laura Harris, Emily Mitchell, and Sarah O’Shea which is licensed under CC BY NC 4.0