Using AI tools

AI tools have many uses that can potentially be helpful when completing your assessments. Before reading the information below, make sure you have also read the information for Current Students on the Open Polytechnic’s main website, under Assessments Using AI Artificial Intelligence services.
Can I use AI tools when writing/researching my assessments?
It’s a good question! What’s important is knowing what is acceptable use, versus what the risks may be, and when use becomes inappropriate within an academic context.
What are the risks when using AI tools?
There are a number of risks with using AI tools to complete your assessments:
Risk |
Explanation |
Incorrect information |
Some of the information generated by an AI tool may be incorrect, irrelevant, out of date or biased. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy of information by verifying it with other reliable sources. |
Academic Dishonesty |
If it is detected that you have used AI to write your assessment for you, this is considered a form of academic dishonesty/plagiarism and can result in serious academic penalties. |
Hallucinations |
AI tools can sometimes include made-up sources, i.e. the citations and references generated may not exist. These are called ‘hallucinations’. Use of these will also result in academic dishonesty. |
Intellectual Property breach |
You could inadvertently be using words that the AI tool has ‘written’, that are actually someone else’s intellectual property, also resulting in plagiarism. |
So, how can I use Gen AI safely?
You may have tried or heard of a number of different AI tools such as Chat-GPT, Consensus, DALL.E, Rytr, along with many others. The quality and useability of these is rapidly changing and developing and there are many different thoughts and opinions on which tools are ‘best’ for a particular purpose.
Scroll down to see some examples of appropriate and inappropriate ways to use AI tools for your study. We are not specifying a particular tool here, but rather, things to consider when using any AI tool. As AI tools are constantly changing, the ways in which we use them will continue to change and evolve.
How should I reference content generated by AI?
For a quick example, see our 'AI generated information' example in our Open Polytechnic APA Referencing Guide. For more detailed information see Referencing AI generated content.
Contact us if you have any questions.
Examples of appropriate and inappropriate use of AI
Assessment writing
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat * Some courses may be happy for you to occasionally use pieces of information from an AI tool directly. Check with your tutor/programme area to see if this is permitted.
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Generating ideas / brainstorming
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Finding sources of information
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Creating images
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* Note, some assessments may permit the use of generative AI tools to create images. Make sure you confirm with your tutor/programme area if this is allowed. |
Last updated: 29 June, 2023