Navigating the World of AI in Grad School

Written by Serigne Thiam, Graduate Assistant for the Graduate College 

Disclaimer: This article serves as general guidance, please check with your college, program, and professors before incorporating AI into your coursework.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way we live, work, and learn, and knowing how to use it responsibly is more important than ever. As a graduate student, you’re right in the middle of this growing technological shift of AI. This presents a challenging question; where do we draw the line? Everday use is fine, however, AI use in creative and academic work is murky territory. AI comes with implications that can affect your academics, professional careers, and the fabric of our very own society. We should use AI to supplement our intuition, not replace it. Here’s how you can incorporate AI into your daily life and maintain your ingenuity.

As effective as AI is, it isn’t fully independent or sentient. When you make an input, AI makes a decision based on large data sets and returns an output. You should keep in mind that data can be incredibly biased and complex. AI cannot “think like a human” in its current state and can’t make moral or creative decisions. Because of this, you should always double-check outputs from AI and make informed decisions from them. Responsible AI use begins with an understanding that AI cannot replace human rationale and emotions, and that efficiency doesn’t equal infallibility.

AI can make your work easier, but it shouldn’t replace your part in it. Graduate school is about specialization and growing your depth of knowledge. Additionally, graduate studies evolve your critical-thinking skills and problem-solving aptitude. However, these skills develop through your studies and hard work, and using AI to complete assignments or conduct research takes away from this development.  

More importantly, AI generated work can have dire consequences on your academic profile. Unauthorized use of generative AI is considered academic misconduct at UC, and consequences like sanctions, dismissal, and a tarnished academic profile isn’t worth the convenience of AI. Unauthorized AI usage can vary from professor to professor, or within the same college and program, so be sure to research the guidelines!

You should mention all uses of AI in your creative and academic work. It can be daunting to add full disclosure, but transparency helps maintain trust, integrity, and accountability. AI is a powerful tool that you shouldn’t reject, and by acknowledging your use of it you can ensure your professor or audience understands the influence of AI on your work. Plus, transparency pushes the ethical conversation of AI forward and fosters a greater understanding of AI’s continued influence on creative and academic work.

You’re likely to encounter fully generated AI content in today’s social media landscape, like articles, deepfakes, and misleading content. AI can be used to create persuasive images and videos, and online content creators may not always label their content as AI generated. You should keep this in mind when you share things online, and can  fact check content through sites like Snopes or PolitiFact.Taking this approach can help you build trust with your online and offline communities.

Chances are you’ve already been using AI powered software like Apple’s Siri or Google Alexa for quick tasks like shuffling music or making a phone call. There’s so much more you can do with AI, like planning events, meals, organizing lists, timely birthday gift suggestions, and more. You can use AI software like OpenArt to generate art or GoogleAI to supercharge your creative expression.  

Adding AI into your work and daily life offers incredible opportunities, and yet we should continue to push for responsible AI use. By staying informed on AI’s limitations, using it correctly, maintaining transparency, and staying cognizant of generative content, you can leverage AI to improve and not replace your creative and academic endeavors. Accountability with AI ensures that we can foster continued AI use and protect our values and integrity. Let’s continue to commit to using it in ways that benefits our society and professional development.