Generative AI Use & Suggestions

Generative AI and Your Writing

What is Generative AI?

Generative AI is a tool that has pulled examples and intelligence from a variety of sources across the Internet. This interactive tool can be used by anyone and you can submit requests and have quickly-written generated responses. The University policy on generative AI use is as follows: "Disclose use of AI tools as required by the entity receiving the AI-facilitated content, but in all cases where such use represents a significant component of the final product or deliverable (for the avoidance of doubt, this means more than 25% of the final product/deliverable)." However, individual classes may have their own policies--when in doubt, assume you should not be using generative AI for writing-based coursework unless directly told to do so.

What are some issues to be aware of?

False Information

Software like ChatGPT has been documented as providing false information, sources that don't exist, or fabricating information to respond to the prompt. This means that you can't rely on this technology as your sole source of information and need to be knowledgeable about your topic as well as do your own research. Generative AI should not be used to conduct research or find sources.

Ineffective Feedback

We do not recommend putting your document into ChatGPT for feedback, as in this area it is not finely tuned enough to understand larger contexts, keep unique voice, or provide suggestions about what is clear to an individual reader or what will meet faculty writing expectations

Ethical Concerns

If you are relying on a generative AI to write the words you present as your own in class, that is not ethical without attribution. Just like purchasing an essay or asking someone else to write your paper, allowing AI to write your work without acknowledgement doesn't align with MTU's academic integrity standards. Talk to your faculty member if you have specific questions about how you may or may not use generative AI for your coursework.

Inaccurate Statements

Because generative AI is drawing from a cache of examples it is not necessarily pulling from accurate or unbiased sources. It cannot detect bias or understand the larger complexities that might inform an article or source. This means that you can't rely on it to provide you with perspectives or accurate summaries and analysis of a topic as a whole. It might be a starting point, but will require further research.

What Else Should We Be Aware Of?

Meeting your assignment requirements: ChatGPT has no way of knowing what your assignment details are or what specific points would be helpful to make in your argument or assignment. ChatGPT may also make recommendations that don't meet your assignment like "have a catchy hook", which is generally not appropriate for academic writing.
Generating a thesis statement: While technically ChatGPT will create a thesis statement for you, it does so in an uninformed way and will continue adding words as you ask it to revise, not necessarily to your thesis statement's benefit.
Writing about personal experiences: You're the one who had the experiences in an assignment that is personal, and ChatGPT can't write about them like you can! Use your own unique voice and perspectives, and talk to a Writing Center Coach to help understand what information is missing or what other ideas you might bring up.
Generating sources: ChatGPT will fabricate sources that do not exist—don't use it as a research tool.

How can I use it effectively?

We don't recommend using generative AI unless required to produce written work for a Michigan Tech course assignment. This is because the cache of information stems from unclear sources and can not reliably produce correct assumptions, explanations, or context for your particular classwork assignments. While it may answer in a convincing-sounding way, the first line of communication if you are confused about an assignment or looking for examples should be your faculty, your textbook and classroom, and the Writing Center!

How Do I Cite it?

Some faculty may be expecting or requiring you to cite when you use generative AI in your coursework. How they'd like you to do this or what warrants citing will vary depending on the individual class. Here are some current guidelines on citing and referencing generative AI in a few major publication styles.

APA: Basic Example: OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat.

APA stresses to clarify in text what you prompted and where the response came from as well. It also suggests including the entire output and exchange between the writer and generative AI in an appendix. For more information review APA's webpage on this topic.

MLA: Basic Example: “Prompt you typed in to generative ai source” prompt. NameofGenAI, Day Month, version, Name of AI Version, Month Year you accessed, URL to homepage.

Read more nuanced explanations and examples on https://style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/

IEEE: IEEE does not currently offer an example for using generated AI content as a reference.

They do offer the following in their submission guidelines: The use of content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) (including but not limited to text, figures, images, and code) shall be disclosed in an acknowledgments section. The AI system used shall be identified, and specific sections of the document that use AI-generated content shall be identified and accompanied by a brief explanation regarding the level at which the AI system was used to generate the content. The use of AI systems for editing and grammar enhancement should be disclosed as noted above.

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*The above suggestions and text are influenced and informed by work done by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center as well as the University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center, and in-progress university language and approaches written by Dr. Holly Hassel (Michigan Tech)