Many of the ethical issues surrounding the use of AI are not new. Concerns for intellectual property, privacy, and academic integrity are similar to those for information retrieved from other sources or work represented as one's own. NIC has several existing policies in place relevant to the use of AI by students and faculty. This list is not intended to be exhaustive and is provided solely to provide examples. If you have questions about NIC policy please contact the Office of Finance and Business.
2.03.03 Intellectual Property:
https://nic.edu/policy/all/20303/
2.03.04 Copyright and Fair Use:
https://nic.edu/policy/all/20304/
3.08.01 Acceptable Use:
https://nic.edu/policy/all/30801/
3.08.03 Data Stewardship, Security, and Protection:
https://nic.edu/policy/all/30803/
3.11 Privacy (Confidentiality of Personal Information):
https://nic.edu/policy/all/311/
3.11.01 Privacy of Health Information (HIPAA):
https://nic.edu/policy/all/31101/
5.06 Student Code of Conduct:
https://nic.edu/policy/all/506/
5.06.01 Academic Integrity:
https://nic.edu/policy/all/50601/
The conversation about the ethical use of AI is ongoing. Large Language Models and the AI tools that manipulate them are known to have issues surrounding bias, privacy (including HIPAA and FERPA), intellectual property, plagiarism, and more. This page offers links to resources outside of NIC relevant to some of the potential ethical issues arising from student and faculty use of generative AI tools and is updated periodically. The issue of Academic Integrity, focused on plagiarism and academic honesty, is featured on its own page.
Cornell University Center for Teaching and Learning, Ethical AI for Teaching and Learning: https://teaching.cornell.edu/generative-artificial-intelligence/ethical-ai-teaching-and-learning
The Alan Turing Institute, Understanding Artificial Intelligence Ethics and Safety: https://www.turing.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2019-08/understanding_artificial_intelligence_ethics_and_safety.pdf
Bias
OpenAI, Is ChatGPT Biased?: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8313359-is-chatgpt-biased
Scientific American, ChatGPT Replicates Gender Bias in Recommendation Letters: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chatgpt-replicates-gender-bias-in-recommendation-letters/
Copyright
ArsTechnica, Why The New York Times might win its copyright lawsuit against OpenAI.
Bloomberg Law, Copyright Chaos: Legal Implications of Generative AI: https://www.bloomberglaw.com/external/document/XDDQ1PNK000000/copyrights-professional-perspective-copyright-chaos-legal-implic
Creative Commons, Fair Use: Training Generative AI: https://creativecommons.org/2023/02/17/fair-use-training-generative-ai/
Plagiarism (See NIC Policy 5.06.01) *
The following statement appears in the student research guide, Copyright, Fair Use, and Plagiarism for Students:
Unless your instructor allows the use of AI without attribution, failing to acknowledge your use of AI in your work is considered a form of plagiarism.
Plagiarism is using someone else's work or ideas and representing it as your own. This includes, but is not limited to, ideas, writings, artworks, and data. Text and other outputs generated by AI do not represent work that is solely your own. The standards for citing AI use are evolving. Both APA and MLA have published standards and new, independent citation forms are being advocated by academics and professionals. If in doubt about how to cite your use of AI, ask your instructor.
*For a more nuanced discussion of plagiarism and AI, select the Academic Integrity page from the drop-down menu at the top of this page.
Privacy
Axios, Generative AI's Privacy Problem
Forbes, Privacy and Security Issues of Using AI for Academic Purposes
Stanford Institute for Human Centered AI, Privacy in an AI Era: How Do We Protect Our Personal Information?