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Artificial Intelligence

Welcome to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section on Artificial Intelligence (AI)! In this rapidly evolving digital age, AI has become an integral part of our lives, transforming the way we work, communicate, and solve complex problems. As AI technologies continue to advance, it’s natural to have questions about how AI works, its applications, ethical implications, and much more. Whether you’re a curious individual looking to understand the basics or a professional seeking deeper insights, our AI FAQs are designed to provide clear and concise answers to the most common inquiries. Explore this section to demystify the world of artificial intelligence and gain a better understanding of the technology shaping our future.

1. What is Artificial Intelligence (AI) and where can I find out about it?

AI is sometimes used as a branch of computing but more specifically the term is used as a broad sense for computer systems that mimic, and handle work done by people. The rise of AI tools that generate or creates text, images, or code based on information stored in computers based on prompts provided by individuals is called generative AI. This includes tools such as ChatGPT, BingChat, DALL-E and Bard to name a few.  There are several places you can learn more about AI.  We recommend following the discussions that are connected to the Higher Education Setting.  You may for example explore the following sources: 

2. What are the relevant policies on the use of Generative AI at The UWI?

While there are no present policies that address generative AI specifically, the use of AI and submitting as their own would be considered an offence of academic misconduct.  Faculty should therefore use AI with careful consideration of the ethical issues and guidelines. The issue of intellectual property is important to raise in relation to the use of AI in academic work – see UWI Plagiarism Policy. We need to teaching our students to be how to be responsible ethical users of tools including AI. For this reason, you may want to add a statement in your course outline, or course space that makes this clear to your students.  Eg Using any artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT to assist in completing any type of university assessment unless you are permitted to do so is considered academic misconduct. The university takes academic misconduct very seriously and there are a range of penalties that may apply. 

3. Turnitin has indicated that they detect AI (as of April 2023), should I use rely on this?

While Turnitin has updated its algorithm to detect AI, it is not foolproof and is not clear as to how it is detected.  It is still possible that AI-generated content can be passed off as a student’s original work.  For this reason, you should be cautious in its use as a detection.  In fact, some universities like Vanderbilt University have disabled Turnitin AI plagiarism feature as it is not certain of its validity.  Therefore, use this TurnitIn feature with caution.  

4. What to do if I suspect my students are using AI to complete assessments?

First, you should take a proactive approach to minimise such occurrences and provide an update on how AI is used in your classroom.  Explain to students the penalties as outlined in the university plagiarism policy.  You may also want to draw on an honour code that requires students to agree to honour code statement. You can also adopt a statement as indicated in FAQ 2 above.  However, should you suspect a student used AI, you can request permission from student to have this checked in the plagiarism checker which can be used as a point of discussion with the student. 

5. Can I use AI to detect or verify if students used AI in their assignments?

You can use the tool to detect but it is not recommended as this would be a breach of student confidentiality and data privacy.  There are legal implications of adding student work into the AI generated algorithms and you should be guided accordingly.  You may want to read 

6. How do I design my assignments to minimise cheating using AI?

As an educator AI can have an impact on your assessment design. You can draw on AI taking the role of teaching assistant in designing your assessment in such a way that it provides options for your review. You can also design your assessment in such a way to deepen critical thinking while at the same time reducing the changes of cheating.  While you can use AI to suggest ways to make your specific assessment less prone to cheating, you can also redesign your assessments to cater to the high usage of AI by students by adopting the following strategies 

  • Require students to submit drafts or work in stages 
  • Require students to provide evidence of the assessment process. 
  • Reduce assessment scope to specific, contextual parameters.  For example, a question like ‘Describe the leadership style of Eric Williams” is not specific enough and can be restructured as “Compare and contrast your country’s prime minister’s leadership style in response to COVID-19″. 

consider this quite from Nancy Gleason: “If universities want to stay true to their missions of equity, inclusion and access, then we need to keep and develop […] alternative assessments. The task now is to design assessment that incorporates AI-generated text. Not least because upon graduation, students will be using this technology in the workplace.” – Dr. Nancy Gleason (2022). 

7. What message should I tell my students in using ChatGPT?

We recommend first to learn about AI  its use in the education context.  You should also consider having a discussion with your students about ChatGPT and other generative AI as it is quite likely that they have already started testing and using them. The key here is to draw to student’s attention the need to use AI carefully given our policies. Each faculty should make it clear on how AI is can be used or not used for their course. Students can refer to university’s Plagiarism and referencing guide https://libguides.uwi.edu/citingreferencing if they are not sure how to cite work. There are a number of resources you can draw on to deepen your understanding of how you can use ChatGPT as a facilitator : 

8. Is it okay to encourage my students to use AI to do assessments?

Many students are using AI, often more so than their teachers. Rather than being punitive, we should provide guidance and support to encourage them to ethically and contextually use AI.  Thus, you can create assessments that encourage the use of AI. Here are some examples of AI supported assessment: 

  • A student can be directed to use AI to create an initial script for a screenplay 

  • In groups, math students are instructed to solve a problem on their own, followed by using Photomath to solve the same problem. The students can then compare the steps in solving the problem 

9. How can AI be used for content creation?

AI offers an innovative approach to developing video content that engages and supports student learning. By using AI-powered tools, faculty can automate the process of generating subtitles, creating video summaries, and enhancing audio quality. Moreover, AI can analyse student engagement with video content, allowing instructors to make data-driven decisions for future enhancements. There are a growing number of tools that assist in the use of AI for content creation. For example, AI can be used to create video content which when used can result in quick turnaround video content. 

10. What is prompt engineering?

Prompt engineer is a term used to describe the intentional communication and interface with AI to get it to do user requests. The term has gained prominence since the rise of ChatGPT, and it is suggested that educators consider the anatomy of a good ChatGPT prompt when interfacing with tools like ChatGPT. Tasmin (2023) suggest that a good prompt should have 5 components: Context, Task, Instruction, Clarify and Refine. The Table below provides example. 

CONTEXT 

TASK 

INSTRUCTION 

CLARIFY 

REFINE 

This is where you set the context for ChatGPT to provide a foundation for the instructions you’re about to set. 

The specific action or activity you would like ChatGPT to perform 

Detailed instructions on how the task should be performed e.g. Length of script, number of words 

This is a step that can be added to confirm that ChatGPT understands when it expects 

You can continue to refine instructions and prompt to get a better response 

Here is an example of how prompt with the first 4 elements: 

Context: You are a Teaching Assistant with 7 years’ experience working in a University setting.  You have exceptional knowledge and understanding in the field of Geography and will be required to work collaboratively to develop a new course.  

Task: Your task is to write content that will be added to a draft course outline for review.  This course outline with have course description, course rationale and learning outcomes in an academic formal tone.    

Instructions: Draw on the topics that I will provide to suggest course description and course rationale as two separate narratives of no more than 200 words. The rationale should explicitly indicate justification for this course drawing on at least 2 academic peer-reviewed journals using version APA 70 intext citation and references. Then suggest university-level specific learning outcomes to address the topics shared 

Clarify: I will provide you with the geography topics to create the course description, course rationale and learning outcomes.  Do you understand? 

11. When is something like using a chatbot a violation of the learning process?

The use of AI–or technology for that matter–alone does not prevent or interrupt learning. The question is always how technology is used. Indiscriminate copying without attribution- merely copying and pasting information does not allow the learner to engage in higher order thinking nor to develop other content-related skills; this compromises the achievement of learning outcomes. 

12. How can we use AI to support teaching and learning?

ChatGPT, for example, can serve as a powerful tool to advance teaching and learning in HE settings in various ways.  Faculty can use ChatGPT in lesson planning for the development course outlines, course learning outcomes and assessments.  An AI tool like ChatGPT could also provide opportunity for imitative learning (i.e. observation and cognitive modeling)) t assist students in developing their own writing, with the teacher modelling responsible use of the technology. 

13. How do we teach students to be ethically selective in their use of various tools and available information?

UNESCO provides a useful resource & guide:  Ethics of Artificial Intelligence guidelines.  in using AI in Higher education.  Torres & Mayo, (2023)  in a recent Faculty Focus article shares some useful steps to guide the use of AI technology: 

  • Reinforce understanding of campus academic integrity policy and acceptable academic standards especially in relation to faculty expectations and unauthorized assistance. 
  • Assign both aided and unaided exercises featuring multiple drafts, including the initial resource-aided text and written reflections on the writing process. 
  • Encourage students to work directly with models and AI tools early in the learning process as they would other resources (i.e., research assistance, writing support). 
  • Require students to revise early products developed through models and tools and to reflect on their revisions (e.g., why did you make the changes you made?). 
  • Teach students the value of citation, beyond just following the rules. When students understand why citation is important (e.g., it helps us track down information), they are more likely to engage the how. 
  • Instruct students to cite or acknowledge – and appreciate – tool usage. 
14. Where do I get assistance to discuss assessment design or teaching using AI?

For assistance on the design and use of AI in context of ChatGPT and other generative AI, faculty are encouraged to book a consultation with CETL personnel at: https://sta.uwi.edu/cetl/book-consultationclinic. Citation practices for ChatGPT and other technologies – Contact library personnel at  

It is important to note that any information shared within these generative AI tools can be used by the AI and as such, confidentiality of information is not guaranteed. Faculty should therefore use AI with careful consideration of the ethical issues and guidelines.  

15. My questions is not listed here, how can I get an answer to my question if it’s not listed here?

Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.Share your question with us and we can add it here:  Reach us by email: cetl@sta.uwi.edu.  we will respond at our quickest convivence.  Our office hours are Monday to Friday 8:30 AM to 4:30PM

Gleason, Nancy. (2022, December 9). ChatGPT and the rise of AI writers: how should higher education respond? Times Higher Education. Retrieved 29 August, 2023 from https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/chatgpt-and-rise-ai-writers-how-should-higher-education-respond

Sabzalieva, E. and Valentini, A. (2023) ChatGPT and artificial intelligence in higher education: quick start guide, UNESCO Digital Library. France: UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean. Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000385146.locale=en (Accessed: 09 May 2023).

Tamsin, S. (2023, January 14). THE ART OF WRITING CHATGPT PROMPTS FOR ANY USE CASE. Https://Sarahtamsin.com/. Retrieved August 29, 2023, from https://sarahtamsin.com/the-art-of-writing-chatgpt-prompts/

Torres, J., & Mayo, C. P. (2023, September 19). AI Eroding AI? A New Era for Artificial Intelligence and Academic Integrity. Faculty Focus Magazine. Retrieved August 29, 2023, from https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-with-technology-articles/ai-eroding-ai-a-new-era-for-artificial-intelligence-and-academic-integrity/