Generative AI is a potentially powerful tool that can be used creatively and with integrity. IADT encourages “innovation in fair usage and ethical experimentation with Gen AI tools in all disciplines to support and empower learners” (IADT Academic Integrity Policy).
That sounds good, but what does it mean practically?
It means that, like any tool, you must consider whether you are using Gen AI in a way that fits with your values. And, when it comes to work you do for your course, you must consider and adhere to the values of IADT too. In IADT's Strategic Plan 2024-2028 (Towards a University for the Creative Industries), the Institute seeks to:
"Inspire and enable our students to fulfil their aspirations and become unique and courageous global citizens."
Academic integrity is integral to the Institute's journey towards becoming a creative industries university. Producing honest and ethical graduates aligns with the Institute's vision of unique and courageous citizens.
Your pencil is a tool that you could use to cheat on an assignment, to write hate speech, or to share misinformation. Your phone is a tool you could use to take a picture of someone else’s art and pass it off as your own. But of course, you wouldn’t do these things, because you know that to do so would be wrong. It would lack integrity, and it would go against your own values and the values of IADT. The very same considerations apply to using Gen AI, but with an added layer of complexity: Gen AI is ‘taught’ using data scraped from the internet, including the published work of artists and writers. It isn’t possible to know whose uncredited work was used to inform the output in response to your AI search/prompt.
This guide will show you how you can use Gen AI for information seeking in a fair and honest way.
