Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: For Faculty

This guide covers artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education, including background, integration in learning, ethics, and resources. AI as a technology and tools in education is quickly evolving, please check back for updates and developments. Along with AI technology, this guide is under construction and a work in progress. Many of the tools listed in this guide are under development and experimental and have not been evaluated by Iona University Libraries.  

"At the most basic level, a chatbot is a computer program that simulates and processes human conversation (either written or spoken), allowing humans to interact with digital devices as if they were communicating with a real person. Chatbots can be as simple as rudimentary programs that answer a simple query with a single-line response, or as sophisticated as digital assistants that learn and evolve to deliver increasing levels of personalization as they gather and process information."

Source: https://www.oracle.com/chatbots/what-is-a-chatbot/

Popular Chatbots

Some of these tools may require logins and accounts. 

ChatGPT - Chatbot from OpenAI 

Claude.ai - Chatbot from Anthropic.

Copilot - Chatbot from Microsoft. 

Gemini - Chatbot from Google.

"AI has become a catchall term for applications that perform complex tasks that once required human input such as communicating with customers online or playing chess." 

Source: https://www.oracle.com/artificial-intelligence/what-is-ai/

Elements of AI -  Online course from the University of Helsinki

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Terms: A to Z Glossary 

AI systems collect data from various sources that we may or may not be made aware of. The AI algorithms analyze the data, recognizing patterns and learning from them. Based on the patterns, AI predicts outcomes and synthesizes insights from the data in response to your prompts.  

When choosing to use AI, use it as a beginning and not an end.  AI should complement that work we create as humans, not replace it.  Use it as a tool but not dependent on it completely.  

Being able to use and critically analyze AI results gives you an increasingly important skill you can use throughout your studies and your life after university. 

Text from "How AI-Based Tools Work" by the University of Maryland under the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License 

While the field of artificial intelligence is always evolving, here are some commonly-used terms that you might encounter when using or learning about AI. 

• Artificial Intelligence (AI): "The capacity of computers or other machines to exhibit or simulate intelligent behaviour; the field of study concerned with this. In later use also: software used to perform tasks or produce output previously thought to require human intelligence, esp. by using machine learning to extrapolate from large collections of data. Also as a count noun: an instance of this type of software; a (notional) entity exhibiting such intelligence" - OED

• Machine learning: subset of AI (Tik Tok, Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube); "The capacity of computers to learn and adapt without following explicit instructions, by using algorithms and statistical models to analyse and infer from patterns in data; the field of artificial intelligence concerned with this." - OED 

• Deep learning: subset of AI (eVehicles, biometrics, iPhone); "A type of machine learning considered to be in some way more dynamic or complete than others; esp. machine learning based on artificial neural networks in which multiple layers of processing are used to extract progressively more features from data." - OED 

• Generative AI: subset of AI; a type of deep learning model. "Generative artificial intelligence; artificial intelligence designed to produce output, esp. text or images, previously thought to require human intelligence, typically by using machine learning to extrapolate from large collections of data; (also) a system, piece of software, etc., used to create content in this way." - OED 

• Algorithm: "A procedure or set of rules used in calculation and problem-solving; (in later use spec.) a precisely defined set of mathematical or logical operations for the performance of a particular task." - OED

• OpenAI: "A research laboratory created in 2015 to develop an artificial general intelligence (AGI) that is available to everyone [...] Although OpenAI was founded by 10 individuals, Elon Musk and Sam Altman have received most of the publicity. Open AI is famous for its GPT large language models, from which ChatGPT was derived [...] As of 2023, Microsoft had invested a total of $11 billion in OpenAI and is entitled to 49% of the profits from the for-profit arm of the company." - PC Mag

• Natural Language Processing (NLP) (Alexa, Ring, Hey Google): "A form of computational linguistics in which natural-language texts are processed by computer (for automatic machine translation, literary text analysis, etc.)" - OED

• Large Language Model (LLM): subset of AI (ChatGPT, Claude, some open source as well); "a deep-learning algorithm that uses massive amounts of parameters and training data to understand and predict text. This generative artificial intelligence-based model can perform a variety of natural language processing tasks outside of simple text generation, including revising and translating content." - Encyclopedia Britannica

• Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT): "An AI architecture from OpenAI that is used to answer questions, translate languages and generate extemporaneous text and images. GPT is also able to write code and even create poetry. Known as a large language model, GPT was trained on huge amounts of data. Because OpenAI's ChatGPT uses GPT and was the first of its kind, both terms are used interchangeably; however, the GPT model is used by other companies." - PC Mag

• Chatbot: "A 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

• AI Model Training: "the process of feeding curated data to selected algorithms to help the system refine itself to produce accurate responses to queries." - Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)

• Prompts: "The information, sentences, or questions that you enter into a Generative AI tool" - Harvard University Information Technology

• Hallucinations: "rather than communicating to a user that it does not know something, the model responds with probable but factually inaccurate text based on the user’s prompts."  - Britannica Academic

• Siri, Alexa and other smart assistants 

• Google maps 

• Self-driving cars 

• Interactive video games 

• Predictive text in emails and text messages

Content used and modified with permission from Torrey Trust at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Retrieved January 19, 2023. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Vo9w4ftPx-rizdWyaYoB-pQ3DzK1n325OgDgXsnt0X0/edit?usp=sharing

Learn More about How to Manage Your Privacy Settings in AI Tools

Never enter private or confidential information into ChatGPT and similar tools. By default, ChatGPT uses your data to improve its performance and capabilities. However, you have the option to prevent ChatGPT from using your data for this purpose.

How your data is used to improve model performance (from OpenAI)

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What Does Training Mean?

Learning from Data:
Just like a human learns from experience, AI learns from large amounts of data, including text from books, websites, articles, and more.
During training, AI analyzes this data to understand patterns, language structures, and various topics.

Improving Performance:

Training helps the AI get better at understanding and generating human-like text.
It learns to respond accurately and appropriately to different types of questions and conversations.

Why Training Uses Your Data:

Sometimes, AI systems use real interactions (like your chats) to fine-tune and improve their responses. This makes the AI more useful, relevant, and accurate for future interactions.

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Prevent ChatGPT from Training with Your Data: Why Turning Off Training with your Data is important

If you turn off training, your interactions will not be used to improve the AI. This helps maintain your privacy and control over your data.

Privacy: Ensuring your personal information and conversations are not used for training can protect your privacy.

Control: Having the option to turn off training gives you control over how your data is used.

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How to View Your ChatGPT Data (Memories)
To request ChatGPT to list your stored memories, follow these steps:

Initiate a Conversation by starting a new chat session with ChatGPT and ask ChatGPT to list all stored memories.

For example:

• "Can you list all the memories you have stored for me?"
• "Please show me all the data you have remembered from our previous sessions."
• "What information have you stored about me?"

ChatGPT will then provide you with a list of all the stored memories or data from your previous interactions for you to review and give you the option to remove them. 

How do I enable or disable memory?
You can turn it on or off at any time by toggling the Memory setting under the Personalization section of Settings.

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How to Disable Training: To turn off ChatGPT training on your data, follow these steps provided by OpenAI:

• Access Your Settings: Go to the settings in the ChatGPT interface. This is usually found by clicking on your initials, profile picture or name, typically located in the upper right corner of the screen.
• Manage Data Controls: Look for a section or option labeled "Data Controls" or something similar.
• Disable Data Sharing: In the Data Controls section, find the option labelled "Improve the model for everyone". Toggle this option to turn off the sharing of your data for training purposes.
• Confirm Changes: Ensure you save or confirm any changes you make in the settings to apply your new preferences.

You can also make a privacy request to OpenAI by visiting OpenAI Privacy and clicking the button labeled ‘Make a Privacy Request’. You will be presented with four options:

• Download my data: Request a copy of your data.
• Do not train on my content: Ask OpenAI to stop training on your content.
• Delete my OpenAI account: Request to delete your account (only use this option if you wish to no longer use ChatGPT).
• OpenAI Personal Data Removal Request: Request the removal of your personal data from AI model outputs.

Another option is to use the feature called Temporary chat. Once logged in, at the top of the page, click on the menu that says “ChatGPT,” and then click the option that says “temporary chat.” Your chat won’t appear in your history and ChatGPT won’t save anything from your conversation.