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AI Library Workshop: AI Evaluation & Academic Integrity

This workshop is for students or anyone who wants to learn to use Gen AI ethically, effectively, and responsibly.

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Academic Integrity Essentials

Academic Integrity Essentials

1) ASK YOUR TEACHERS whether and how you may use Gen AI tools!

  • Most teachers at BCC don't allow the use of any AI in your assignments.
  • Some teachers may allow you to brainstorm paper topics or create study notes through Gen AI tools.
  • No teachers allow you to let Gen AI complete your papers or think for you.

2) Gen AI doesn't know more than the websites, videos, or other materials from which it is trained.

  • Watch for hallucinations, and verify your results
  • Beware of Cognitive Offloading where you rely on AI to reduce mental effort.
    • Will you become the hero of your own story when you can't think an original thought or make a critical decision. Learning "sticks" when it is hard (1) and you aren't just being fed by a drive-through Gen AI Fast Food.
  • Avoid being trapped in an Echo Chamber because algorithms have taken over. 
    • LLMs are like “a fancy parrot – telling you what you want to hear”​​​​​​​


CUNY Teachers expect Academic Integrity from their students. 

Per the CUNY Policy "Any use of generative AI tools must be in line with the usage policy for specific assignments as defined in the course of the syllabus and/or communicated by the course instructor."

General Guidelines:

OpenStax Academic Student Integrity Scale from approved to not approved practices

Examples of Cheating with AI per CUNY's Policies: 

  • Copying from a Gen AI tool without consent of professor.
  • Using content created by AI tools for assignments or exams.
  • Using content generated or altered by AI or digital paraphrasing tools without proper citation.
  • "Unauthorized use of AI-generated content; or use of AI-generated content, whether in whole or in part, even when paraphrased, without citing the AI as the source."

Evaluating Gen AI 
 

  • Don’t Spread Fake News!!! Question all information. Chatbots have hallucinations! If you were supervising a new intern, wouldn’t you check their reports for accuracy?

    • Example Chatbot Statement - “Claude may occasionally generate incorrect or misleading information (hallucinations), or produce offensive or biased content. Claude is not intended to give advice, including legal, financial, & medical advice. Don’t rely on our conversation alone without doing your own independent research.”
       
  • Fact checking or lateral reading is imperative (4) because AI doesn't know more than its training data, which is generally sources like websites, YouTube, Wikipedia. Furthermore, because Gen AI is like a "Black Box" the process and sources aren't possible to identify. Academic research and educated people should question these results.
     
    • Lateral reading is done when you apply fact-checking techniques by leaving the AI output and consulting other sources to evaluate what the AI has provided based on your prompt. . . With AI, instead of asking “who’s behind this information?” we have to ask “who can confirm this information?” 


Leave the Gen AI tool and open other browser tabs to fact-check. 

​​​​​​1) Break down the information, identifying main claims of the Gen AI output.

2) Search for other sources on Google, Wikipedia, OneSearch to validate those claims.

3) Analyze the different claims of your 2-3 sources.

4) Decide what is correct and potentially update your Gen AI prompt to address the hallucinations.

Ask yourself: "Do I need to use AI or would an Internet search like Google or a Library database search be better?" 

Cite AI

AI Citation in MLA Style

Format (5)

"Prompt text" prompt. AI tool, version of tool, company that made the tool, date text was generated. URL. 

Example

  • In-text citation: ("Describe the symbolism")
  • Bibliography: “Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, https://chat.openai.com/ share/dccb3610-1db9-4eed-88b1-cdb06f67982a.

Review: What Did You Learn?

Review Questions

1)  What are the four parts of the AI Fact-Checking Process?

2)  How would you define an AI hallucination to a friend?

3)  Will teachers allow you to use AI in your research assignments?

4)  When you cite Gen AI, what or who is considered the author?