Overview

This week, we cover a rapidly advancing technology that is likely to significantly impact both personal and academic research: generative AI. Our goal is to help you understand what generative AI is, cover its limitations as a tool for emerging researchers, and discuss ethical considerations you should be aware of (whether you use AI or not).

Understanding AI can seem daunting. Please know that you do not have to have a computer science background to master the basics of how genAI works. You are capable! And, understanding these concepts will help you navigate the changing world around you, both in the classroom and after you graduate.

Also: you are not required to actually use AI to complete the assignments this week. Some of you may be coming to this class already informed about the ethical complications of AI use (such as heavy environmental impacts, biased output, or the use of pirated training data). We support your decision, and our discussion board this week offers both a chance to experiment with AI AND an alternative discussion prompt.

We do still encourage you to thoughtfully engage with the material this week. Understanding how AI works will help you navigate an information landscape in which genAI is likely to be increasingly integrated – in the future, you may not always have the option to not use a resource built with generative AI.