Mainstream Generative AI (simply known as “AI”) launched only a couple years ago, and across all disciplines, we continue to stalwartly learn about the best ways to use (or not) AI programs in our research and writing.
Since 2022, journals, funders, universities, and scholarly associations have gradually issued guidance on responsible AI use. While your decisions about how to engage AI remain individual, your best choices will come from staying informed about evolving policies and emerging research. To navigate the rapidly changing (and hyped) world of AI for writing, it helps to have a trusted inner compass to guide your way.
Strategic and ethical engagement with AI begins with understanding the expectations and norms of our scholarly ecosystems.
Consider: Does the journal you plan to submit to allow for AI use in generating a manuscript draft or only for review and editing? In the project conception and planning stages, are you confident the AI programs you selected for data collection or data analysis are secure and meet field or institutional standards? Does your AI-use tracking method ensure transparency and disclosure, and could you provide if a committee, editor, or funder requests proof? These are a few of the questions you (and your co-authors) may already be considering in your AI-use decision-making process.
Here are our top 8 “coordinates” to help orient your AI decisions, use, and ongoing professional development (these are also part of the CSU Writes AI Guidance page):
CSU (Universities)
Take care to follow CSU’s policies, use approved tools, and meet academic integrity standards to ensure your AI use aligns with campus expectations for ethical research and scholarship. TILT, the LIBRARIES, AI@CSU have AI guidance. Note that currently only CoPilot, MSTeams, and soon CSU-GPT are approved for use with confidential or CSU proprietary data.
Publishers
Review journal and press guidelines to understand what forms of AI assistance are permitted and how they will expect you to disclose AI use. Take care to consider how AI intersects with authorship and might affect the originality of your work (if already part of an open AI training system).
Regulatory and Funding Bodies
Comply with agency-specific rules on AI in proposal development, data security, research design, and reporting. Large funding agencies, such as the NIH, have issued restrictions to AI use in the generation of grant proposals. Take care to know the guidelines to preserve your project’s eligibility, credibility, and compliance.
Scholarly Associations
Look to disciplinary organizations for emerging ethical norms and best practices. The conversations at your conferences and meetings will shape field-specific expectations for originality, transparency, and responsible innovation.
Your Professional Goals
Keep who you are working to become and what you wish to contribute front of mind. Choose AI practices that support your scholarly identity and that will advance your career with integrity.
Career-Long Cognitive Development
Also, keep your mind front of mind when choosing to use AI. By reading, writing, and thinking, you continue to develop your expertise and hone your disciplinary fluency. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. In these early days of GenAI, take care not to cognitively offload the very load you should be carrying.
Sustainable Use
Maintain CSU’s award-winning sustainability standards. Consider the ecological and computational consequences of AI tools and choose practices that align with CSU’s sustainability commitments and responsible resource stewardship. This may be as simple as turning to a chatbot for advice less often by reaching out to a colleague for coffee and an in-person chat.
Collaborations and Communities
Build strong and trusted research and scholarly relationships. If you co-author with others, establish shared expectations for transparency, use, and disclosure. Affirm equitable, ethical, and collectively supported AI practices in your collaboration.
Ultimately, responsible AI use is not a one-time choice, but an ongoing scholarly (i.e., writing) practice. To continue developing your internal AI-Use Compass, stay aware and informed, document your decisions, and opt-in to the resources and community at CSU Writes and other CSU units as part of your continually developing AI ecosystem. You can find more information at the CSU Writes AI Guidance page.