{"id":3557,"date":"2024-11-21T15:05:30","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T15:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/?p=3557"},"modified":"2024-11-21T15:10:14","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T15:10:14","slug":"artificial-intelligence-check-your-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/2024\/11\/21\/artificial-intelligence-check-your-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Artificial Intelligence: check your reality\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What comes to mind when you hear AI?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chatbots, essay prompts or is it a \u201cno-go\u201d topic in your mind?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019re talking about it so you\u2019re aware of the areas of life where it\u2019s impacting you and so you can make good decisions as you engage with it.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>First up, what is AI?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Merriam-Webster defines AI as \u201cthe capability of computer systems or algorithms to imitate intelligent human behavior\u201d.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as \u201cthe use or study of computer systems or machines that have some of the qualities that the human brain has, such as the ability to interpret and produce language in a way that seems human, recognize or create images, solve problems, and learn from data supplied to them.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You could say: AI replicates humans by using existing information to create content and problem-solve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. <strong>AI can create echo chambers.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do you ever find your social feeds are full of the same kind of content a lot or some of the time? This is because AI is analysing the content you are looking at and serving more and more of the same. AI will continue to deliver content more and more bespoke to your interests.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is ok for most content; however, for some topics (like politics or views of particular groups of people) it can create a digital <strong>echo chamber<\/strong>, where you only hear one point of view, and your views are reinforced without challenge.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Misinformation could lead to extreme views, to radicalisation, misogyny, racial hatred, homophobia or more. You get the picture.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can work against social media echo chambers by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>not believing everything you see or read;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>getting your news from a range of sources;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>following a range of accounts to break out of your echo chamber \u2013 confuse the algorithms!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Takeaway point: be sure to leave your digital echo chamber.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. <strong>AI can be a useful prompt or time-saving device \u2013 but don\u2019t let it do all the thinking for you!<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Want to create a low-budget meal plan that isn\u2019t just a bowl of pasta and cheese? Ask AI (e.g. ChatGPT). Tell it what you\u2019re looking to do and it\u2019ll write you some suggestions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But when it comes to writing your essay \u2013 that\u2019s your remit. AI could offer you some pointers but don\u2019t get AI to write your essay for you. AI might write your essay for you but what are the risks?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On one hand, that\u2019s a straight-up Assessment Offence and you\u2019ll get a 0 when that\u2019s noted by the marker, you\u2019re pulled up before an Assessment Offence panel; and you may fail a core module and have to leave your course.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the other hand: what\u2019s the point?! You\u2019ve worked hard to get to uni, to get an education in a subject you love \u2013 why let AI do all the thinking for you?&nbsp;&nbsp;By over-using AI, you won\u2019t have the benefit of the learning yourself and you won&#8217;t have the skills you need for your career &#8211; you <em>might<\/em> pass but will you have learnt?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When you\u2019re in the workplace, you won\u2019t have the knowledge you need \u2013 and there might be limitations on AI in your industry, so you won\u2019t have it as a back-up. How will you evidence your knowledge in a job?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Delve into your subject, do the graft and feel the reward!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Takeaway point: AI is useful as a research tool but don\u2019t rely on it too heavily. Don\u2019t let a bot do your degree for you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. <strong>Don\u2019t believe everything you see and read \u2013 AI is not 100% trustworthy.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did you know that AI can produce \u201challucinations\u201d? Yep, that\u2019s the technical word for AI making stuff up. A bit like a ropey Wikipedia page with misinformation, AI can make stuff up.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This can either be:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Misinformation \u2013 wrong information.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Check the validity of what AI produces \u2013 if AI tells you something, find a source outside of AI to check that it\u2019s true. Go to a national newspaper or another reliable source to check.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"2\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>AI can produce fake references.<\/strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AI can generate a reference that looks legit but is totally made up. Check, check, check!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"3\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Fake imagery<\/strong>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Google Donald Trump AI hands and you\u2019ll see what we mean. This is an example of a deepfake \u2013 an image which looks legit but it\u2019s false. In this case, you can identify this by the fact that Trump has 6 fingers on his hands.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You may have seen that TikTok released some AI-generated photos of Taylor Swift which crashed the platform.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AI can produce an image from a text prompt; so be wary.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Takeaway point: question what you read and see.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. <strong>Finally, sign up to one of our <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/uweacuk.sharepoint.com\/sites\/ai\/SitePages\/workshops.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>AI workshops<\/strong><\/a>.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Library regularly run workshops you can attend online to give you an overview of the pros and cons of AI and how you can use it appropriately at university.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>AI is everywhere, so make sure you know how to handle it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Further resources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/uweacuk.sharepoint.com\/sites\/ai\">UWE Artificial Intelligence homepage.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uwe.ac.uk\/study\/academic-information\/artificial-intelligence-principles\">Principles for using generative artificial intelligence at UWE.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What comes to mind when you hear AI?\u00a0\u00a0 Chatbots, essay prompts or is it a \u201cno-go\u201d topic in your mind?&nbsp; We\u2019re talking about it so you\u2019re aware of the areas of life where it\u2019s impacting you and so you can make good decisions as you engage with it.&nbsp;&nbsp; First up, what is AI?\u00a0 Merriam-Webster defines &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/2024\/11\/21\/artificial-intelligence-check-your-reality\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Artificial Intelligence: check your reality\u00a0\u00a0&#8220;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":3565,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":13,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[110],"class_list":["post-3557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-it-2","tag-study-support"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3557"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3578,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3557\/revisions\/3578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/student\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}