Finding Sources Basics: Gen AI and AI Chatbots

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What is Generative AI?

Generative AI (GenAI) refers to “a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that is able to create new content, such as text, images, music, or entire datasets, based on patterns and information it has learned from existing data” (https://genai.ubc.ca/). 

AI is not new and has been integrated into software, websites, and social media platforms for many years; however, the development of AI Chatbot tools like ChatGPT, which generate large amounts of content very quickly based on a user's prompting, has led to many seeking these tools out for use in research, teaching, learning, and everyday information-seeking. For a research assignment, you may be thinking of turning to one of these tools to help with things like ideating or finessing research questions, finding information sources, analyzing or understanding sources, etc.

With this in mind, it is important to be thoughtful about how and when you might use GenAI for your assignments. There are some key resources at UBC that you can consult as you make use of GenAI tools:

 

If you are considering using any GenAI tools, there are some additional questions to think about as you engage:                                                                                                                         

  • Is the response/content being  generated accurate? Are you able to identify inaccuracies?

    • ChatGPT, for instance, is really good at providing citations that seem that they are real, which may include real person(s) as authors and real journal titles, but a fake article.

  • Is the AI trained on current information? If not, what is the cutoff date for its training data? 

  • Who created the AI tool(s) you are using? 

  • Does the AI collect personal information as you use it? How is this information stored and used?

  • Does the AI itself, and does your use of it, abide by copyright guidelines?

  • What biases and limitations affect the content generated by this AI?]

  • What are the social, economic and environmental impacts of using certain AI tools?

 

What are AI Chat Bots?

An AI Chatbot ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence " computer program designed to simulate conversation with a human user, usually over the internet; esp. one used to provide information or assistance to the user as part of an automated service. " (OED Links to an external site., n.d.). Popular examples of AI Chatbots include Chat GPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft CoPilot, and more.

The topic of AI Chatbots is huge. There are many ways that these tools can and are being used by students, librarians, and researchers. We do not have enough time to cover it all here, but there are some things that you should consider if you are using tools like these chatbots for your own work.

At the time of writing this page:

  • Most AI Chatbots are supposed to engage in a way that seems like it is human, but that does not mean that it is accurate.
  •  AI Chatbots do not have common sense, and do not have access to the background knowledge we have as humans; this can be reflected in how they respond.
  • AI Chatbots are trained from a huge amounts of data, but that data could and does have biases, prejudices, and assumptions which can be reflected in its responses.

For more support with using Generative AI in Library Research and Learning, visit UBC Library's GenAI and ChatGPT Library Guide.

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