Artificial Intelligence - AI: Home

What are some of the advantages of AI?

Depending on the program, It can save time by automating straightforward tasks such as:

• Writing standardized letters, such as a recommendation.
• Quickly summarizing large amounts of information and explaining it clearly.
• Scheduling appointments.

It can create new things by;

• Creating images described to it
• Composing poetry
• Taking photographs

What are some drawbacks of AI?

• Inaccuracy. AI occasionally produces work that is incorrect. It may cite a scientific paper or a law case that does not exist. AI works by predicting what the next word in a sequence is likely to be. It does not think; it has no personal experience that it can check its output against. It does not know, for example, that rectangular tables usually have four legs, or that plants are most often rooted into the ground, and so when it generates a picture of a table or plants, those details may not be included.
• Copyright violation. AI may use entire sentences or phrases copied from the works it was trained on. It does not always indicate that these are quotes. 
• Bias. AI is trained on a database of human-produced work. Such work often has racial or gender biases. AI will then replicate these biases in its responses, preserving patterns of thought that aren't useful in today's society.  
• Social Impact. We already know ways in which AI currently harms society. There is speculation that AI might substantially reshape work in the future.

AI Vocabulary

AI Image Generators: AI programs that generate images, usually based on prompts from users

Algorithms: a set of rules that guide an AI program. They may be provided to the program, or the program may be tasked to discover connections itself.

Chatbot: A program designed to simulate conversation. These are often used to answer frequently asked questions or provide technical assistance.

Chat prompt: The message or the question you submit to the AI. "Please give me a biography of Alicia Keys" is an example of a chat prompt. "Draw a picture of an empty desk with a computer, cup of coffee, and two stacks of papers" is another.

Hallucinations: These are inaccurate or entirely wrong responses from AI. These may be due to incorrect training data or incorrect programming. Hallucinations are why you need to check the accuracy of AI responses before you rely on them. One way to check the accuracy is to ask the AI to explain how it achieved the responses it provided.

Large Language Models (LLM): These AI programs are trained on enormous data sets including the Internet, books, encyclopedias, news stories and more.  These programs do not understand context, instead they use the patterns they find in the training data to predict the next word in a series of words, or the adjacent pixels in a picture it is creating.

For a more comprehensive glossary, see 50 AI Terms Every Beginner Should Know.

How to Use AI

The request you make to an AI is called a prompt or a chat prompt. These are some recommendations from ChatGPT on how to write a good chat prompt.

1. Be Clear and Specific:
   • Clearly state what you're looking for, or the information you need. Avoid vague language to ensure the assistant will respond to your request as if it understood it.
2. Use Proper Grammar and Punctuation:
   • Writing your prompt in a clear and grammatically correct manner helps the assistant better respond to your message, leading to more accurate responses.
3. Avoid Ambiguity:
   • Eliminate any ambiguity in your prompt. If there are multiple ways to interpret your request, provide additional context to guide the response.
4. Ask One Question at a Time:
   • Keep your prompt focused on a single topic or question. This helps prevent confusion and ensures a more precise response.
5. Include Relevant Details:
   • If your request involves specific details, include them in your prompt. This provides context and helps the assistant generate a more accurate and helpful response.
6. Politeness Matters:
   • Adding polite language to your prompt can create a positive interaction. Simple phrases like "please" and "thank you" go a long way in fostering a respectful conversation.
7. Be Concise:
   • Avoid unnecessary details or overly long prompts. Keep your message concise while still providing sufficient information for the assistant to respond to your request as if it understood it.
8. Consider the Category:
   • If your query falls into a specific category (e.g., facts, creative writing, code), make it clear in your prompt to guide the assistant's response.
9. Experiment with Iterative Prompts:
   • If the initial response isn't exactly what you're looking for, consider providing additional details or refining your question in subsequent prompts.
10. Use the Right Tools:
    • If you have a specific type of request (e.g., fact-checking, content policy), you can use tools available in this chat to get more accurate and relevant information.

How to write a good ChatGPT prompt.  (2024.) ChatGPT (Jan 17 2024 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

(Library staff note: Does politeness really matter? We don't know, but it seems to be good advice in any circumstance.)

Always cite AI as your source when you quote AI-generated text.

AI tools may plagiarize texts that have been used in their training. If you have cited AI as the text generator in your bibliography, it will be clear that you are not the source of the plagiarism. 

Examples of citation formats for your bibliographies:

APA Format: Company that created the AI tool. (Year). AI Name (version) [Descriptor of the tool. Usually "Large language model"]. URL

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

In-text citations would look like this: (Company name, year).

Example: (OpenAI, 2023)

This information is from the APA website: "How to Cite ChatGPT"

MLA Format: Title of Source. (This means a brief explanation of the prompt.) Title of AI tool, Version of tool, Company that made the AI tool, Date, URL.

Example:
“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, chat.openai.com/chat.

In text citations would include the first three words of the prompt.

Example:
This would be the in-text cite for the citation above: ("Describe the symbolism")

This information is from the MLA website: “How do I cite generative AI in MLA style?”