✨AI in Academic Research
In times of digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role in various industries. Various artificial intelligence (AI) tools that can produce texts, images or videos are now widespread. Most AI tools are based on machine learning technology and can be controlled in a simple and user-friendly way using normal language in the sense of a chatbot by entering user instructions, so-called prompts. AI tools can generate various forms of text, translate texts, perform complex calculations, write program code or create individual graphics.
The generation of content by an AI tool can be a valuable aid in many tasks as part of your studies if used with caution. Since dealing with AI tools is an essential skill, this guide shall give you some tips and recommendations on how you can use AI tools, such as ChatGPT, as part of your studies and which aspects you should consider when doing so. AI tools will continuously expand as AI develops, we suggest that you regularly experiment with AI tools to cultivate your own understanding of their potential. This requires a critical attitude and can best be achieved in collaboration with your teachers and other students.
How can AI tools be used effectively?
AI tools can be useful when researching information online. For example, they can be used to summarize or simplify important aspects of new specialist knowledge, to create summaries of extensive texts and research papers, or to collect information on specific topics. AI tools can also be used to automate tasks that take up a lot of time. For example, they can help simplify writing texts, evaluate data, or perform various analyses. AI tools can also help develop and elaborate new ideas. For example, they can help you identify relevant topics for coursework.
How can you use AI tools responsibly in your studies?
Do not use AI tools to automate tasks that have been assigned to you, such as writing seminar papers or theses. Do not use AI tools as a substitute for your own skills. AI tools can help you improve and simplify your work, but they must not replace your own thinking.
When you use AI tools, you must critically examine the associated sources - an AI is a secondary source that may contain incorrect or ethically questionable (e.g. discriminatory) information. As the author of a paper, you are solely responsible for the content of your paper, regardless of whether relevant passages of text were generated by you or by an AI tool. It is part of the academic duty of care to ensure good scientific practice to always check all information yourself using established and trustworthy sources. Please note the information on correctly citing AI content under "Marking AI-generated texts" and under the section "Plagiarism and incorrect scientific source references". You are also responsible for complying with data protection guidelines when using personal data when using an AI tool.
What are the guidelines for using AI tools in academic work
Instead of just submitting a text to a course assignment, you will increasingly be asked to explain how you structured the solution and the solution path for a specific task. This particularly includes the question of when and how you used which AI tools to help you. You must clearly indicate usgae of AI in the text, even if you have subsequently changed an AI-generated text. AI-generated content that you adopt must therefore be marked according to the usual citation rules. Please note, however, that AI content is secondary sources and the common AI tools do not cite the primary sources they use according to the usual citation rules. It must therefore always be decided on a case-by-case basis whether AI-generated content may be adopted or whether it may only be used as a starting point for further research, e.g. on the primary sources.
Please note that when using AI tools in scientific papers, the source material (i.e. which AI tool was used) and the prompts (i.e. which data entries were made) must be clearly identifiable so that similar results can be reproduced as far as possible at the time of evaluating your performance. For this purpose, we recommend using tables in which the prompts to represent your train of thought are presented as examples. Details on the use of AI tools should be provided in separate documentation, e.g. as part of a directory of the use of technical aids.
What are the possible negative consequences of using AI tools?
Content from AI tools that is incorporated into one´s own work must be marked as such without exception and must not be presented as one´s own work, otherwise plagiarism is present, which could later lead to the assessment being revoked.
Concluding remarks
Academic work that requires you to perform without the use of external aids will remain a crucial aspect of performance assessment. While AI tools can be valuable aids in many tasks, their use demands a critical mindset and should never replace your own thinking.