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Principles of Using AI
Experiment responsibly, safely, and ethically. Use AI to support your work—brainstorm ideas, draft early versions, organizine formation, summarize notes, or improve clarity. But don't use it to replace your own thinking, judgment, or creativity, especially for tasks that require ethical reflection, nuance, or expertise.
Here are five principles to guide our community's engagement with generative AI:
- Integrity: The use of generative AI in academic work must be clearly disclosed. Cite or acknowledge AI when it plays a meaningful role in your work, whether in documents, presentations, research, or image generation.
- Privacy: Personal data must be adequately protected. Never input confidential, personal, or sensitive information into public AI tools. If you're collecting or working with personal data, visit Western's Legal Counsel website to learn about Privacy Impact Assessments.
- Accountability: You bear responsibility for the consequences of AI-generated outputs. Always review and fact-check what AI produces. Never assume it's accurate, unbiased, or appropriate for your context.
- Inclusion: Actively consider accessibility and fairness. AI tools can reflect and amplify existing biases. Be mindful of who might be affected by the output.
- Transparency: The algorithms, data, and design decisions underlying AI systems should be openly accessible to the extent possible. Be open about when and how you're using these tools.