What AI Can Do and What it Cannot Do
Ethical items to think about:
- Enterprise systems vs. proprietary
- Data centers and energy implications
- Where you live and the climate itself
- The training data of the tool you are using (what is included, what is missing, do I know?)
What AI Can Do:
- use predictive algorithms to produce results
- create text, images, documents
- compare and contrast ideas that it has been trained on
- brainstorm keywords and ideas
- fine-tune a research question
What AI Cannot Do:
- it cannot do your research or assignment
- it cannot be a credible source
- verify its sources
Consider using RADAR to evaluate outputs: R (rationale) A (authority) D (Date) A (accuracy) R (Relevance)
- Rationale: consider bias, tone, and how the item came to be
- Authority: what are the author credentials?
- Date: when was this published and does that matter to your research
- Accuracy: consider reliability, credibility, various viewpoints
- Relevance: who is the audience? is this new information to your research project?
The Ethics of Using AI in the Research Process
Most of the tools explored in this guide function as AI-assisted tools, rather than Generative AI like ChatGPT. This important distinction means that using these tools is not equivalent to creating new content. The scholarly conversation about this issue is ongoing and growing—to dig deeper, try a literature review. 😉
Researcher Razia Aliani perhaps says it best: "Using AI in Research is Ethical, NOT using it responsibly ISN'T."
