How to use ChatGPT and other AI tools as a college student...WITHOUT CHEATING

Summary

Brian Doak, an academic author and university professor, discusses the ethical use of AI tools like chatbots in academic settings. He emphasizes the importance of adhering to guidelines set by professors and syllabi, and the historical context of citation in academia. Doak outlines examples of acceptable use, such as brainstorming broad themes, and gray areas like using AI-generated outlines, which may require citation. He warns against explicit cheating, such as copying AI-generated text without attribution, and stresses the value of academic integrity and honest communication with instructors.

Takeaways

• 📚 The primary guide for using AI tools in academic settings is the professor or instructor's guidelines, as outlined in the course syllabus.
• 🤖 AI language models like Chat GPT can be ethically used for broad searches and inspiration, but not for directly submitting work as one's own.
• 📝 Citation in academic work is crucial to show the historical context of ideas and to demonstrate the authenticity of one's contribution.
• 🎨 The Romantic Period in the 1800s marked a shift towards recognizing authors as unique creative individuals, emphasizing the need for proper attribution.
• 👀 Students are considered scholars in the making and are expected to abide by academic standards of thinking and research.
• 💡 AI tools can serve as a prompt for general ideas but should not replace the student's own analysis and writing.
• 🔍 Using AI for generating outlines or drafts enters a gray area and may require citation or discussion with the professor.
• 🚫 Copying entire paragraphs or sentences from AI and submitting them as original work is considered academic dishonesty and can have serious consequences.
• 📖 Professors value academic integrity and expect students to engage in the scholarly process with honesty and original thought.
• 🌟 The goal of college education is to develop critical thinking and creativity, and students should trust the academic process to guide their intellectual growth.

Q & A

Who is the primary audience of the video, and what is its main purpose?

The primary audience includes college students, professors, and anyone interested in ethical AI usage in academia. The main purpose is to provide guidance on how to use AI tools like chatbots ethically in educational settings, distinguishing between fair use, gray areas, and outright cheating.

Why is citation important in academic writing?

Citation is crucial because it situates an idea within the history of discourse, demonstrates the author's understanding of their discipline, and acknowledges the original sources of information. It upholds the integrity of academic work by providing a transparent trail for readers to verify sources.

What is considered 'not cheating' when using AI tools in college?

Using AI for broad-level searches or general information gathering that informs your work without copying text directly is not considered cheating. This can include using AI to identify major themes or gather basic ideas that you then explore with your original writing.

What constitutes a gray area in the use of AI in academic writing?

Gray areas include using AI tools to generate outlines, drafts, or detailed ideas that closely inform your work. In these cases, citation or acknowledgment of the AI's role may be necessary, depending on how much of your final work is influenced by the AI-generated content.

What actions are classified as blatant cheating with AI in academia?

Blatant cheating involves copying entire paragraphs or essays generated by AI and submitting them as your own work. This act of academic dishonesty misrepresents AI-generated content as original student writing.

How does the academic community view the use of tools like spell checks or Grammarly?

The academic community generally accepts the use of tools like spell checks or Grammarly as legitimate aids in writing. These tools are not considered cheating because they assist in correcting grammar or spelling without generating original content.

Can the use of AI for generating outlines be considered cheating?

Using AI to generate outlines can enter a gray area depending on how detailed the outline is and how much it influences the final work. If the AI-generated outline significantly shapes the content, citing the AI's contribution may be required.

Why must students be clear and honest about their use of AI tools in their academic work?

Clarity and honesty are essential to avoid accusations of plagiarism and to maintain the integrity of academic work. By being transparent about the use of AI tools, students uphold academic standards and contribute authentically to the field of study.

What are the potential consequences of academic dishonesty involving AI in college?

Consequences can include permanent notation on a student's academic record, suspension from the university, and jeopardized future opportunities such as medical school applications. Academic dishonesty is taken seriously and can have lasting impacts on a student's career.

How does the video presenter view the future potential of AI tools in academia and beyond?

The presenter is optimistic about the future of AI tools, suggesting they will find many transformative uses that enhance productivity, leisure, and possibly contribute to societal benefits like universal basic income. However, cheating in college papers is explicitly not endorsed.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Academic Integrity and AI Tools

Brian Doak, an academic author and university professor, discusses the ethical use of AI tools like chatbots in academic settings. He emphasizes the importance of following class guidelines and syllabus policies when using AI for research and writing. Doak explains the historical context of citation and originality in academic work, stressing the need to situate one's ideas within the history of ideas and to contribute creatively to one's discipline. He also warns against academic dishonesty, such as plagiarism, and its severe consequences in college.

05:03

🤖 Using AI for Broad Ideas

Doak illustrates how AI can be used ethically in an academic context by providing an example of using chatbots to generate a list of broad themes for a literature paper on Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'. He explains that using AI for general advice or inspiration is acceptable, as long as the final work is original and the AI's contributions are not directly copied into the paper. Doak also addresses the grey area of using AI-generated sentences, emphasizing the importance of citation and attribution to avoid plagiarism.

10:04

💡 Navigating Grey Areas with AI

The paragraph discusses the grey areas of using AI in academic writing, such as generating outlines or drafts. Doak suggests that while AI can provide a robust outline, students must be cautious not to copy AI-generated content directly. He advises students to be transparent about their use of AI tools and to cite their sources appropriately. Doak also touches on the use of other AI tools like Grammarly and the importance of asking professors for guidance on acceptable usage.

15:05

⚠️ Explicit Cheating with AI

Doak explicitly defines cheating with AI as copying entire paragraphs or sentences from AI models and passing them off as one's own work. He stresses that this is a clear case of academic dishonesty and should be avoided at all costs. Doak encourages students to engage with the academic process honestly and to trust the system that aims to develop their intellectual abilities. He concludes by urging students to value the practice of citation, original thinking, and the academic community.

Keywords

💡Ethical Use of AI

Ethical use of AI refers to the principles and guidelines that govern the responsible and fair utilization of artificial intelligence technologies. In the context of academic settings, as discussed in the video, it involves using AI tools like chat GPT in a way that upholds academic integrity, does not involve cheating, and is transparent about the sources of information and ideas. Ethical use is pivotal for maintaining trust and authenticity in scholarly work.

💡Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is the moral code or ethical policy of academia. This concept emphasizes the importance of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility in all forms of academic work. The video underscores academic integrity as essential, particularly in how students and researchers use AI tools, to ensure that their work remains original and credits are appropriately given to the correct sources.

💡Citation

Citation in academic writing involves referencing the work of others to acknowledge their contributions and to provide readers with the source material. The video emphasizes the importance of citations not just for giving credit but also for situating one’s work within the broader discourse of the field, demonstrating an understanding of the discipline, and contributing new, original insights.

💡Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of using someone else's work or ideas without proper attribution, presenting them as one’s own. The video highlights the severe consequences of plagiarism within academic contexts, noting that it violates academic integrity and can lead to disciplinary actions, including suspension or expulsion from educational institutions.

💡AI Language Models

AI language models, such as chat GPT, Bard, or Claude, are advanced software systems designed to understand and generate human-like text based on the input they receive. The video discusses these models in the context of academic research and learning, exploring how they can be used responsibly to support but not replace the intellectual effort required in scholarly work.

💡Cheating

Cheating is defined as acting dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage, especially in the academic context. The video categorizes actions like using AI to generate essays or projects without proper attribution as clear instances of cheating, which undermines the educational process and the value of one's degree.

💡Syllabus Policies

A syllabus is a document that outlines the structure of a course, including its content, objectives, and rules. The video points out that syllabi often contain policies regarding the use of external tools, including AI, and that these policies are the primary guide for what is considered acceptable use within that course.

💡Gray Areas

Gray areas refer to situations or practices in academic work where the ethical implications are unclear or where the rules are not strictly defined. The video discusses examples of using AI for generating outlines or getting inspiration for themes as potential gray areas, where students should seek guidance from their instructors.

💡Consequences of Cheating

The consequences of cheating in an academic setting can be severe, including notation on one’s academic record, suspension, or even expulsion. The video warns of the long-term impacts of academic dishonesty, such as jeopardizing future opportunities in higher education or professional fields.

💡Scholarly Contribution

Scholarly contribution refers to the addition of new knowledge or insights to a field of study, often through research and publication. The video emphasizes the importance of making original contributions to the academic community, supported by thorough research and proper citation, as a core aspect of scholarly work.

Highlights

Brian Doak is an academic author with a PhD in Near Eastern languages and civilizations, discussing the ethical use of AI tools in academia.

The primary guide for using AI tools in college is the professor or instructor, along with the class syllabus and its policies.

In academia, citation is crucial to show where an idea fits within the history of ideas and to demonstrate the authenticity of one's contribution.

The Romantic Period in the 1800s marked a shift towards recognizing authors as unique creative individuals.

Using AI for broad level searches to find general information is considered fair use and not cheating in a college context.

AI tools like Chat GPT can be used to generate a list of themes for a literature analysis, but the specific analysis must be the student's own work.

Copying sentences or phrases directly from AI tools without citation is considered academic dishonesty.

The consequences of academic cheating can be severe, including permanent notes on a student's file and potential suspension from the university.

Professors are passionate about academic standards because they care about organized thinking and the integrity of the academic community.

Using AI tools for spell check or basic grammar assistance is generally accepted as not constituting cheating.

Tools like Grammarly are accepted for improving grammar and word choice, but AI writing tools that recraft entire sentences may cross the line into cheating.

Generating outlines with AI tools can be a gray area, and students should be open about their use and consider citing the tool if the outline is detailed.

Using AI to write entire essays is explicit cheating and is akin to lying to the professor and the academic community.

Students should engage with the academic process and trust the system that guides them to develop their intellectual capabilities.

The use of AI tools should be transformative, helping to increase productivity and leisure time, but not at the expense of academic honesty.

Students should reflect on the kind of scholar they want to be and whether using AI tools in an unethical way aligns with their goals.

Transcripts

hey my name is Brian Doak I am an

academic author of six books and like 50

articles I have a PhD in near Eastern

languages and civilizations I'm a

professor and a university administrator

and I love technology I love chat gbt

I'm so excited about these new

developments in Ai and so naturally the

question comes up for me as a teacher of

students and even as a researcher myself

how do I ethically use AI Tools in a way

that I'm not cheating and I'm not

pretending I'm doing something that I'm

not doing let's explore first a

qualification if you are a college

student in a class the number one guide

that you have for what you can and

cannot do with something like chat GPT

or Bard or any of these other AI

language models I'll just refer to these

as the AI language the AI your number

one guide for what you can and cannot do

is your professor your instructor

typically every class has a syllabus

that lists policies and guidelines you

always follow that not just random

things you saw in a video but if you're

looking for guidance and if you don't

have anything like that or maybe even if

you are a professor out there and you're

looking for some kind of structure for

thinking about teaching and what's okay

and what's not okay then this video is

meant for you why as academics and why

in college papers do we even cite

anything at all why do we even bother to

say where we got information why are we

so uptight about this in the ancient

world authors would often just totally

plagiarize each other with no

consequence they would steal each

other's sentences lines poems and really

there was no concrete idea of an author

as as a unique creative Soul until much

later in human history in fact many

people point to the 1800s the Romantic

Period as a period where where in in the

west at least authors really became

authors in the sense that they were

creatives who had unique ideas that

needed to be treasured for their own

particular tortured uniqueness and thus

if you borrowed something from someone

else you had to be very clear about

where you got that our modern academic

culture follows in that tradition

why I mean in summary it's because when

we want to engage in the world of ideas

when I want to do that as a scholar I

have to show when I write something a

book an article whatever it is I have to

show where in the history of ideas my

idea fits and in order for my my my

contribution say a journal article to be

accepted by a journal I need to show not

just one person not just the editor of

the journal but I need to show my peers

other Scholars who are going to read

this and who are going to vet it and

check it and either recommend it for

publication or not I need to show them

that I understand the history of my own

discipline and I need to show them that

I have something creative and original

to contribute otherwise we're just

wasting people's time right

so to do that the act of citation of

footnotes of parenthetical of works

works cited and bibliographies is really

really crucial because that academic

intellectual product is so special and

because the act of trying to find out

what's true and right and real and

accurate is so difficult I need to

document every step of that and I cannot

lie to my colleagues and I cannot

pretend it needs to be authentic and it

needs to be very careful when you then

come to college you are engaging with me

you're engaging with your professors in

that academic task you are becoming

scholars in the making you might not

think of yourself as a scholar or an

academic but that's precisely what

you're doing you came to college you

chose that and you're going to have to

start to abide by these standards and by

learning to think in a scholarly way and

like an academic you're going to become

more organized and you're going to

become sharper in your own thinking and

you're going to be able to situate your

own ideas within the history of ideas in

a way that you're going to find is

really powerful and compelling this is

why academics do citation the way that

we do this is why we care

all right finally the payoff let's go

through some examples about using AI

something like chat GPT or Bard or

Claude or any of these any of these new

systems what what in a college context

typically would constitute not cheating

at all total fair use and normal what

would be a gray area where really you

need to think about what you're doing

you maybe need to cite the AI model

you're using say that you're using it

maybe talk to your professor and what

would just be clear and obvious cheating

academic lying or plagiarism taking

someone else's words and pretending that

they are your own words let's go through

some examples of each okay so not

cheating

um here's an example of what I think a

lot of people would consider not

cheating

um not cheating involves using very

broad level searches to find very broad

level information which you will then

specify and embody and narrow down in

your own work for example let's say you

were asked to read Shakespeare's Romeo

and Juliet very popular piece of

literature you probably read it in high

school and let's say you were asked to

write a two-page reflection paper on any

major theme that you see there and let's

say you read it but you're like a theme

I'm not really sure there's love there's

death what are the themes really what

are even the options let's say you went

to chat GPT which I'll do right now

and let's say you asked hey can you give

me a list of major themes in Romeo and

Juliet

the response you get certainly here are

some major themes now this list I'm

seeing has six main seven major no eight

major themes

um and you get kind of some keywords and

then a colon and then a much longer

description a couple of sentences any of

these phrases that appear before the

colon I'll read some of them like love

fate and destiny conflict and violence

Youth and impulsiveness

these are all what I would consider to

be very broad level things that almost

any reader of the play could recognize

as themes if you decided to do that and

to pick one of those as your theme then

you set this aside you set the chat GPT

aside you set AI aside and you go and

then you use text from the play to

demonstrate that

that is a totally fine use of AI you're

using it kind of like you use a

conversation with a friend to prompt

very general level advice right and I

think that is the key the generality of

it the fact that it's one or two words

the fact that it's a big level thing

that all um that all pushes it in favor

of being able to use it you probably

wouldn't have to say I used chat GPT to

come up with the theme of love in Romeo

and Juliet it's really obvious it's kind

of like material maybe you could even

think of it like material if you watch a

movie trailer it's like really blatant

stuff like that you can tell right away

oh it's a mission impossible movie I

guess there will be spies and you know

car chases and motorcycles off cliffs

like everyone kind of knows that that's

not specific information you don't need

to like cite like I read you know Time

Magazine um July 2023 the Mission

Impossible movies involve spycraft it's

like everyone knows that that's that's

what I mean by broad generally shared

information and if you use an AI tool to

get that kind of information Nation as a

prompt I think that's fine I think a lot

of people would would see that as fine

you still as you can see on the screen

here when they generate these prompts

with these with these themes they have

more information than just you know

conflict and violence Youth and

impulsiveness they have sentences you

can't take those sentences and just copy

and paste them into a paper

if you did that you have to put

quotation marks around it even if you

change a word or two you're still taking

information from somewhere else you

can't really easily make that your own

by just copying it and putting it in a

paper so that's different do you see the

difference here between the very Broad

and between now very specific wording

including whole sentences and phrases

you've gone a little bit farther now

you've started to enter a gray area or

or perhaps even into blatant cheating if

you did that without attributing and

notice what the key difference is this

is the key the key is did you put those

quotation marks around it and did you

say where you got it and that just that

goes not only for chat GPT or AI that

would also be for a book or a journal or

an article or anything else where you

get information right let me be clear

cheating in college on papers can have

serious consequences for example a lot

of universities have a policy that if

you're caught cheating One Time by a

professor that will be permanently noted

on your file but it's like a warning a

lot at a lot of schools the second

instance can result in you being

suspended from the University that is

serious and it does happen I have seen

it happen and it is real I also happen

to know because I've seen this sadly

happen with students some students who

want to apply for med school or

something serious like that they find

out on the med school application that

they are asked if they've ever been

caught in a situation of academic

dishonesty and oh no if they have now

they're faced with the choice of either

they have to try to lie to the med

school and the med school often will

check your application on specific

questions so you have to be careful or

you have to admit that you have cheated

in the past and now come up with some

big explanation for that and you risk

not being accepted

all of this is what you risk when you do

the blatant examples of cheating or when

you fail to communicate academically

under the standards of your class or

your University you can see how as

professors I mean we're not we are wild

we are wild creatures professors we're

so intense about our standards and we're

so intense about thinking and about

organized thinking and we're so intense

about it because we love it and we care

about it and it produces and has

produced certain results carefully

thought out results that other people

can examine and and that people can

trust I think that's pretty important in

our world today and I think that you

know that from watching the news and

just seeing all of the noise and all the

disinformation that we all face it's

it's probably also worth mentioning like

whoa if we're gonna get this if we're

gonna get this detailed what about using

like Microsoft Word you know sometimes

they'll underline a word with that red

squiggly underline that you spelled it

wrong and you use their spell check

that's actually an AI tool is that

legitimate can you do that I think that

there's been broad agreement among

Scholars students colleges that using a

spell check tool does not constitute

cheating right you may have assumed that

but I just want to point that out

because actually we're not talking about

black and white here we're talking about

gray areas that is a computer system

doing something for you that you might

not have known

um which could raise all kinds of

questions like well what if I use

something like grammarly grammarly is

very popular it's a tool that really

explores your grammar on a more phrase

by phrase basis or word choice and might

make suggestions I think overall most

professors have agreed that something

like grammarly is okay but there are

even newer products like at the time of

this filming there's a thing called

grammarly go that does even deeper

interventions into your writing process

and begins now to act like an AI writing

tool by even recrafting entire

paragraphs and things like that for me

okay for me as a professor that is now

going over the line that's going over

the line you don't just get to do that

and have something recraft entire

sentences for you and not say that

you're doing that again the line between

what I think in this case is cheating

and not cheating is just you being open

about what you're doing and this is a

great case where I think you really

should ask your instructor ask your

professor what do you think about this

you know show them the tool be like is

this something that is within the bounds

of your academic standards you're not

going to find a shared statement of all

standards about this for all colleges

and all professors for all time it's

going to change so I think now once you

get into that you're now into a gray

area where I think you just want to ask

I think the key here is just to be open

about what you're doing and you don't

need to feel shame I think professors

now now for all but the very worst

professors okay professors now know what

these AI tools are and many professors

are even experimenting with asking

students to use them to generate

outlines and drafts and things like that

so this shouldn't be forbidden territory

and you shouldn't have to feel shame

about asking about how you can use it or

how you can't you do need to get really

clear though

about what you're doing and if you're

taking and copying things from the

internet whether that's AI or anywhere

else pasting that into a document and

pretending that you wrote that that you

should feel shame about that is just

flat straight up academic cheating that

is lying like you are lying when you do

that you are lying to your professor is

your professor somebody you want to be

in a lying relationship with or do you

want to be in that you know that growing

mentorship thinking together type of

relationship I think you want the latter

right so go for that don't do the lying

cheating thing right okay so the gray

areas we've already started to get into

that here's another gray area that I

think this would be worth talking with

your professor about I don't know that

this is not cheating but I don't know

that it is which would be generating

outlines through an AI tool so let's say

that I then went back into chat GPT and

I said hey can you give me a three-page

um an outline for a three-page paper on

Romeo and Juliet uh actually

accidentally typed in Romeo and Julie

that's a totally different play okay

Romeo and Juliet particularly on the

theme of Youth and impulsiveness so say

you like that theme and you were like

okay it will generate an outline for you

now I'm looking at this outline it's a

pretty intense outline it's got details

it's got full sentences it's not just

phrases and words I think this is if if

you literally followed this outline and

used this you'd really want to be

careful not to just copy their phrases

is in their words this has to be your

words and your phrases and your ideas

but I think the ideas here are so

detailed I think this is something that

you'd want to think about citing how

would you cite that what would you do

just like type in parentheses by the way

I use chat gbt for this well maybe I

mean that would be a very informal way

of citing some professors will be very

intense about using particular Styles

like there's a style of citation called

Chicago style where you do footnotes so

you put the information down below

there's there are various Styles which

I'll just call parenthetical citation

Styles which would have you in the same

sentence do a parenthesis with the name

of the author or maybe the tool and the

page number or the year so maybe for

chat gbt a common citation style would

be to say if you did um Roman numeral

3.c analyze the tension between their

idealized version of love and societal

expectations and restrictions placed

upon them say you use those exact words

you'd have to put them in quotes and

then put in parentheses after that chat

GPT and maybe the date on which you did

that that would be one simple way of

acknowledging that's how you guard

yourself though against going from

plagiarizing to citing a source and

using a source in an appropriate way so

is an outline a gray area yeah I think

it is I think it depends though how

intense the outline is how robust it is

this to me looks like a pretty robust

outline I would say you have to kind of

be open about the fact that you're using

it same thing would apply I think if you

asked chat gbt to generate a five page

five paragraph or five page paper for

you on the theme of Youth and

impulsiveness in Romeo and Juliet

but you didn't really copy it you didn't

copy and paste it you just kind of

looked at it and referred to it and kind

of wrote some things on your own that

were based on it I think you have to say

that you're doing that I think you have

to do a citation for that I don't think

that you can just pretend that that was

just you with your own ideas so you're

starting to see like well if you can't

do that what can you do it's like well

maybe not a lot without having to cite

it or say that you're using it you can

see these are powerful tools they are

awesome we're going to find so many uses

for these things that are going to

transform our lives and hopefully

hopefully make us give us more Leisure

Time help us be more productive in the

right ways and you know guarantee

Universal basic income for everyone

while machines do all our work and we

become

um like just happy people living in a

Utopia maybe that won't be the future

but I think we are going to find some

amazing uses for this stuff right

but you cheating on College papers is

not one of those uses Okay so get clear

about this right do a gut check with

yourself you know is this the kind of

student you want to be can you use it

yes do you need to say what you're doing

and be open about what you're doing I

think also yes that's the key we've

talked about what is not cheating using

very broad themes and inspiration from

single phrases or words we've talked

about gray areas outlines drafts longer

phrases things like that

um what is explicit cheating

we've mentioned it already but I'll be

explicit again copying entire paragraphs

from an AI model and past trying to pass

them off as though they are your own

independent thoughts so I can go into

chat GPT again and say hey use this

outline to write me a five paragraph

essay on this topic chat GPT is happy to

comply certainly here is the essay right

the title Youth and impulsiveness in

Romeo and Juliet and then they've got

introduction paragraph one two three

this is fully written on stuff you

cannot cannot merely copy and paste

those paragraphs or even sentences into

a paper and put your name on the top and

say that you wrote that that is the most

blatant obvious form of academic

dishonesty you can perpetrate as a

student okay you cannot do that maybe

you say okay maybe it'd be better off

just not even to look at all not even to

go in there and do that stuff because

it's just so tempting maybe maybe that's

the approach that you do need to take

maybe

um in a controlled situation and you

know with a professor's guidance you can

use it to do outlining right depends on

your class and where you are or maybe

you kind of stop at that level of the

broader themes you use that for your

inspiration now you put it away now you

do that work

I'm pretty sure though that in the end

what you really want as a student I know

you want a diploma I know you want a

degree I know sometimes you're in

classes that you think I don't want to

take this class this class is pointless

but here's something I've learned along

my academic Journey

I didn't always know at the time what I

was going to need I didn't always know

what muscles of the brain or the soul or

the heart the mind the spirit I was

really going to have to develop and when

you go to college you're putting your

trust in a bigger system you're paying a

lot of money for this bigger system

right you're putting a lot of trust in

it to guide you in a particular way so

I'd I'd suggest for you take a chance

trust trust that process go through with

it you want to know that you've engaged

in the academic community in a practice

that's been going on for hundreds

actually thousands of years that you are

learning and becoming creative and that

you're doing the things that you came to

college to do that's what citation is

about that's what writing is about

that's what thinking in college is about