What are acceptable uses of GenAI? What are some alternatives?
Answer
Acceptable GenAI uses can vary from course to course because each course has its own learning outcomes. Using GenAI for a task that you are being graded on to assess your achievement of the outcome could be cheating. Therefore, ask your instructor before using a generative AI tool for an assignment. Also be sure to turn off chat history and model training to avoid copyright infringement when entering information into the tool.
Generative AI uses that could be acceptable may include the following. Before you decide to use GenAI for a task, you may want to consider the ethical ramifications. Furthermore, GenAI can distort your writerly voice and lead your research down a stereotypical or biased path rather than a unique one. Therefore, we have suggested alternatives to each task below. The Write Site’s writing specialists can also coach you to develop your skills on many of these tasks.
- Brainstorming (Alternative: Brainstorming methods)
- Identifying key words (Alternative: Use scanning strategies)
- Background research (Alternative: Read reliable news about the topic)
- Summarizing sources (Alternative: Read the abstract or conclusion)
- Creating an assignment plan or outline (Alternative: Outline templates)
- Checking your understanding of sources (Alternative: Discuss with your instructor or a peer)
- Revising and editing (Alternatives: Use a text-to-speech tool or get feedback from a writing coach)
- Creating study materials (Alternative: Write your own notes or create your own flashcards. The process of doing so can help you learn.)
Ultimately, you are not permitted to prompt GenAI to generate any part of your assignment, such as written passages or computer code, unless required by the assignment instructions or pre-approved by your instructor. However, as the above possibilities show, there can also be beneficial ways to use AI during the writing process.