Here is the policy that I’ve designed for my ENGL 430: UX Research Class for Fall 2023. I invite you to comment on this and help improve my understanding of AI and ethics through your experiences and expertise:

We live in exciting and scary times!

Since last year, the emergence of various generative AI tools like ChatGPT has been challenging our conventional notions of what it means to write, what it means to be an author, what it means to cite, and what it means to plagiarise. Nobody has final answers yet, but many people are exploring this new world to make sense of it. Being in this class allows us the privilege to participate in that ongoing conversation. I invite you to tweak this policy as we go along.

Here are some starting guidelines on Generative AI Use for our ENGL 430: UX Research class that I’ve developed thanks to my learnings from this wonderful list curated by Eaton (2023) and conversations with Anna Mills on Twitter (@EnglishOER).

Am I Allowed to use ChatGPT or other such tools?

Yes, use* but terms and conditions apply:

• 🔍 A.1) Attribution is still important: Citing the work of other humans 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 is a morally valuable 💖 and legally required ⚖ principle that academia upholds 🎓. That principle continues to apply to human writing 📝 you use for this class. It also transfers to content generated by generative AI tools 🤖. Organizations like the MLA and APA 📚 have come up with guidelines on how to cite such content, which we will follow 👍.

• 🤖 A.2) Responsibility of content is still yours: Please note that Generative AI tools can sometimes produce factually incorrect ❌, biased 😒 or potentially harmful 🚫 outputs. As an author ✍️, it's your responsibility to verify any content you use from these tools for factual correctness, bias, and potential for social harm 🌎.

• 📋 A.3) Documentation of your use of AI is key: If asked 🤔, you should be able to demonstrate how much of the work was done by you 👩‍💻, and what role AI tools played in assisting you 🤖➡️👩‍💻. How you choose to demonstrate that is up to you 🤷‍♂️. Some suggestions include sharing transcripts of your ChatGPT chats 🗣 using the “share” feature, adding statements about AI use at the end of your submissions etc.

• 🤔 A.4) Reflect on your experiences with AI for better documentation: If you use AI, try to reflect on your experiences 🤔. What parts of your work flow has it improved✨? What has it harmed❌? How do you feel after using it? How do you think writers should be using these tools📝? This will help with the documentation principle above. 👆📊

  • Here is an example: While creating this policy, I used ChatGPT to add emojis to make this text more engaging. I also used the spell-check in Google Docs to change British spellings to American ones. I also asked ChatGPT for feedback on an initial draft of the policy. It gave some useful suggestions and I included one of them about developing a feedback loop with students about their AI use. Finally, I asked it to give me some catchy titles for this policy, and among the many options it gave based on my prompt tweaking, I liked the phrase “use, reflect, refine” so I’ve incorporated that in the policy. This also led me to add a new point for “reflection” within the policy itself. So while using ChatGPT helped me revise my ideas, having these ideas to start with was important, otherwise I wouldn’t have developer a deeper understanding of AI ethics. For further details, you can also view my transcript with ChatGPT here.

• 🚀 A.5) Challenging these principles is encouraged; conversation is key; we’ll refine as we go: Since we're still in the early stages of experimenting with AI, I encourage you 👏 to challenge these principles based on your experiences, and share thoughts 💭 about how they should be revised, if needed. I encourage you to contact me anytime you face issues while using AI tools and applying these principles. Through these conversations, we will refine the policy as we go along.

• 👩‍🏫 A.6) This policy is for this class only: Please check with instructors of other classes 🏫 to see what their AI policies may be. The guidelines for this class do not automatically apply to other classes 🚫🔄.