At the AI Tools for Research and Productivity Workshop, participants had the opportunity to learn about various artificial intelligence (AI) tools and were presented with a framework for how to use these tools ethically and responsibly.
Student Success Librarian Kimberly Shotick hosted the event virtually at noon Tuesday via Microsoft Teams.
This program was created as part of Founders Memorial Library’s “Mission in the Stacks” series and is open to everyone. This series is dedicated to helping students utilize library resources and navigate library areas.
This special workshop was designed primarily to assist both undergraduate and graduate students interested in learning how to ethically operate artificial intelligence to support their academic work.
Shotick emphasized the importance of using AI ethically to complement, rather than replace, productivity.
“We’ll go into detail about the tools and show you how they can improve your productivity and research, but we wanted to start here because it’s important to be thoughtful and critical when using AI,” Shotick said.
AI can be used as a supplementary tool, but it shouldn’t be used to completely replace research, Shotick said.
Over-reliance on AI can have a negative impact on critical and global thinking.
“Emerging evidence shows that AI, depending on how it is used, could have a negative impact on the way the world thinks,” Shotik said.
Shotick emphasized the importance of doing research and using AI as a support for research rather than as an entire product. For example, generative AI can help create research questions and manage tasks.
“Therefore, in this field, generative AI can be used ethically and productively to help overcome obstacles and get unstuck, or to come up with research questions, strategies, and timelines,” Shotick said.
During the workshop, participants were introduced to various AI tools that can assist in the research process. The event was interactive, with attendees having the opportunity to interact through the Microsoft Teams interface during the presentations.
Interactions include answering scenario-based questions to test participants’ knowledge of AI tools and hands-on experience with the many research tools offered by the library. The tools are available for free to NIU students. access.
Tools include Microsoft Copilot, an AI tool that helps users research, write, summarize information, and generate content by integrating large-scale language models; AI Research Assistant, which helps users find excerpts from peer-reviewed documents and academic papers, and organizes important points for easy access; and Research Rabbit, a citation-based mapping tool used to generate a visual network of related papers to help users explore and visualize research and literature.
Shotic said using these tools is beneficial when starting your research.
“So this feature is really helpful when you’re trying to start research and you’re really overwhelmed and don’t know how to start,” Shotick says.
Participants were also given the opportunity to consider practical strategies for effectively utilizing these tools.
Ultimately, Shotick demonstrated an appropriate and responsible way to incorporate AI into research practices without violating academic ethics or school policies.
“One of the outcomes of the webinar is to introduce a framework for teaching the ethical use of AI. The costs and benefits of using AI really depend on the tool and its intended use,” Shotick said. “For example, a tool used in a medical setting to advance medical research under human supervision, and a tool that takes copyrighted music and spits out an AI musician artist for Spotify. Those are two very different applications with different costs and benefits.”
When considering the use of AI, Shotick developed a method called “peaceful use of AI” as an ethical framework for the use of AI. This technique asks users to validate their concerns by asking a few questions.
NIU guidelines We value the ethical use of AI and require transparency and privacy considerations when using AI. The use of AI is only recommended for approved NIU applications.
NIU Services and Usage strongly encourages you to cite the AI tools being used. We don’t recommend using generative AI for student reporting, but the exact use of AI will vary by professor and department. If in doubt, please check the syllabus.
For more information on these topics, please contact Shotick. [email protected]. Copies of the lectures are available at the NIU Library YouTube page.
