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Generative AI for students

Provides an overview of uses, tools and issues with generative artificial intelligence

Generative AI tools

There are a wide variety of generative AI tools available, with more being created daily. How should you decide which ones to use?

  • Use reputable products - look for tools created by well-known companies.
  • Review the product's privacy policy - assume that in most cases any information you share will not be private.
  • Understand the limitations of the tool - search for articles online discussing the limitations of the various tools.

Examples of text generation AI tools (AI chatbots) include:

Paid versions of text-based Generative AI tools.

  • Each of the tools listed above offer both a free and paid version of their product. The paid versions offer access to more features and the latest advancements. 
  • ChatGPT4 (ChatGPT Plus), the paid version, uses the latest most powerful large language model (LLM), GPT-4. The free version uses GPT-3.5.

In addition to text generation tools, there are many types of tools available for a range of other applications including chip design, voice synthesis, product design and more.

  • Image generation tools
    e.g. Dall-E, Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, Photoleap
  • Music generation tools
    e.g. Jukebox, MusicGen, Lyria, Filmora
  • Video generation tools
    e.g.  Pictory, Invideo, Synthesia
  • Code generation tools
    e.g. CodeStarter, Codex, GitHub Copilot, Tabnine
  • Tools for Literature searching and Literature review
    click on the link below to explore the Library's guide on using AI-powered tools for literature reviews

Below are several lists of tools. Please note that these lists and the tools they contain are suggestions only and are not endorsed by Macquarie University Library.

ROBOT test

The ROBOT test is comprehensive, and was designed to help you think critically about AI. It was created by Amanda Wheatley and Sandy Hervieux from McGill University.

Choose a Gen AI tool and try to answer the questions in each section of the test.

You can find more resources on the LibrAIry blog.

Reliability

  • How reliable is the information available about the AI technology? 
  • If it’s not produced by the party responsible for the AI, what are the author’s credentials? Bias? 
  • If it is produced by the party responsible for the AI, how much information are they making available?  
  • Is information only partially available due to trade secrets? 
  • How biased is the information that they produce? 

 

Tips: Try to find information about the generative AI tool on the website of the company/organisation/individual who made it. Is the information about the tool easy to locate and is it clear? Additionally consider if the generative AI tool has been designed to produce reliable information or content, try to fact check the output.

Objective

  • What is the goal or objective of the use of AI? 
  • What is the goal of sharing information about it? 
    • To inform? 
    • To convince? 
    • To find financial support? 

 

Tip: Consider the purpose the AI tool was made for, does this align with how you are using it? ChatGPT was made by a company called OpenAI, what is the purpose of this company, what is their mission? What did they intend their users to do with the tool they created?

Bias

  • What could create bias in the AI technology? 
  • Are there ethical issues associated with this? 
  • Are bias or ethical issues acknowledged? 
    • By the source of information? 
    • By the party responsible for the AI? 
    • By its users?

 

Tips: Read the Using generative AI ethically page of this guide for more information on issues and ethical considerations.

Search MultiSearch with the follow search string, and use filters to limit the results:

  • Bias AND "Generative AI"

Ownership

  • Who is the owner or developer of the AI technology? 
  • Who is responsible for it? 
    • Is it a private company? 
    • The government? 
    • A think tank or research group? 
  • Who has access to it? 
  • Who can use it? 

 

Tips: Consider the motivations of the owner, how might this impact the the technology?

Type

  • Which subtype of AI is it? 
  • Is the technology theoretical or applied? 
  • What kind of information system does it rely on? 
  • Does it rely on human intervention? 

 

Tips: These questions may be applied to AI in the broader sense, as well as more specifically to generative AI. For example, if you want to use AI to search for information, it might be best to find a type of generative AI that has uses a search engine and can give you links to the resources used in the content it generates.

Attribution:

Creative Commons licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

To cite in APA: Hervieux, S. & Wheatley, A. (2020). The ROBOT test [Evaluation tool]. The LibrAIry. https://thelibrairy.wordpress.com/2020/03/11/the-robot-test

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