Artificial intelligence has been a hot, new topic of our age. But first, we must define it. Artificial intelligence is a set of technologies that can perform a plethora of advanced functions on its own without requiring human intelligence. Self-driving cars, automatic content creation, and virtual personal assistants are just a few of the many innovations of artificial intelligence.
Below are two images from the New York Times, one generated by artificial intelligence and another being a real image. Can you guess which image is real and which is generated by AI?
If you guessed correctly, the image on the left was generated by AI, and the image on the right is a real person [1].
We must note that AI can do so much good for our world. For example, it can speed up tasks such as analyzing data that otherwise might take long periods of time with human analysis. Artificial intelligence can do tasks that take humans hours to complete in just a second. However, how far should AI be taken?
AI is trained on the data that it is given. If fed biased data, it can be a source of discrimination. It has also been utilized to create deepfakes, where individuals can be cloned through video and image data, which can be used in unsafe scenarios. Artificial intelligence has also been employed to scam people out of money by cloning the voice of a loved one, making it seem they will be endangered if money is not given up.
How far is too far? Let’s talk about artificial intelligence in the scope of the university.
In the university context, around 20 percent of students worry about using generative AI tools to benefit their school work because they are nervous about being caught for plagiarism or receiving consequences [2]. Even despite students’ work being their own, some students stress that plagiarism check systems by university professors may still detect their work without AI as plagiarism.
There is the flip side of students who have been caught using AI to cheat, lie, and be dishonest in their work to benefit themselves, such as in their grades. AI can write entire essays, answer quiz questions, etc. There are several statistics depicting student use of AI. A survey by the Digital Education Council reported that around 86% of students use artificial intelligence in their studies [3]. 24% of students reported using it daily, while 54% utilize it daily or weekly. The image below displays these statistics from the Digital Education Council.
It is important to consider that AI can be utilized to perform many of the tasks that professors do. AI can provide personalized feedback and, in greater detail, quicker than most professors can while managing a large class of students. It can even create individualized learning and lesson plans for students with different needs. It can explain individual, topic-specific questions to students who need academic help [4].
As I see it, academic support with AI can be useful when done ethically. AI can generate practice problems, help you revise content, explore new topics, and even provide a road map for your academic career. It can even provide post-grad career support for university students to help them make informed decisions. It may be able to provide free academic support to university students who face barriers in their education and cannot afford academic tutoring elsewhere.
Sometimes, it is difficult to draw the line between when it is ethical to use AI in the university context. Sure, AI could be used for university research, but does that make the research ethical or original? How much academic support received from AI is entirely accurate, knowing that AI is susceptible to errors with its recent design? Is utilizing AI for academic support unethical because it is not being received face-to-face from a professor?
From the University of Virginia's standpoint, it is noteworthy to mention the details of the UVA student-run Honor System, which carries out the Honor Code for the university. The UVA Honor System takes a stance concerning AI on its website, honor.virginia.edu, in a seemingly open-minded manner. The Honor Committee mentions that due to the increasing technological era that we live in involving AI, the committee is aware that they must adapt to that new era and become aware of the benefits, risks, and various concerns [5]. They are actively trying to educate themselves on the increasing AI concerns of our age that may affect students academically by identifying unacceptable and acceptable uses with AI to reference.
It seems like the ethics of AI continues to be a debated topic amongst universities, including the University of Virginia. The question of what is ethical is tricky to identify with the ever-changing views of millions of students and other stakeholders. It is interesting to see how many students and universities decide to stay in the middle rather than gravitate towards one side of whether AI is ethical or unethical. This issue continues to be discussed as AI continues to grow.
All content is the intellectual property of the Virginia Undergraduate Business Review.
REFERENCES
[1] Thompson, S. A. (2024, January 19). Test Yourself: Which Faces Were Made by A.I.? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/19/technology/artificial-intelligence-image-generators-faces-quiz.html
[2] Post, H. G. (2024, April 26). Universities: Guardians of ethical ai?. HEPI. https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2024/05/01/universities-guardians-of-ethical-ai/
[3] Kelly, R. (2024). Survey: 86% of Students Already Use AI in Their Studies -- Campus Technology. Campus Technology. https://campustechnology.com/Articles/2024/08/28/Survey-86-of-Students-Already-Use-AI-in-Their-Studies.asp
[4] Walden University. (2024). 5 Pros and Cons of AI in the Education Sector | Walden University. Www.waldenu.edu; Walden University. https://www.waldenu.edu/programs/education/resource/five-pros-and-cons-of-ai-in-the-education-sector
[5] Home | Honor Committee. (2024). Virginia.edu. https://honor.virginia.edu/
[IMAGE] Artwork by Vania Wat via https://medium.com/@alessandroamenta1/teaching-ai-to-think-like-humans-reinforcement-learning-from-human-feedback-6c676d040c5e
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