Use of AI-based applications
Learning the skills needed in working life is important for a student at a university of applied sciences. AI-based applications are examples of tools that will be increasingly used at professional work. ChatGPT is a tool which can generate text based on the questions given by the user and improve the content according to the guidance. Dall-E, on the other hand, produces visual elements according to the conditions provided by the user. New applications utilising artificial intelligence will be used at an accelerating pace.
TAMK encourages students, teachers, and other staff to familiarise themselves with AI-based systems and to experiment with their use. Students can use AI-based applications to help with, for example, information gathering and the production of images and texts. Teachers, on the other hand, can use artificial intelligence, for example, in the planning of courses and in the construction of learning assignments. In each course, students and teachers should consider together how artificial intelligence is used as part of their studies and how its use is expressed in the outputs.
At this stage, students are given the following recommendations regarding AI-based applications:
- Students are advised to familiarise themselves with AI-based applications (such as ChatGPT) and use them as one of the tools in their learning.
- Students are always responsible for the content of their own study assignments and the materials subject to evaluation. The content produced by AI-based applications may contain material factual errors, so the student must learn to be as critical of them as they are of any other source. AI-based applications are not suitable for finding facts, but they may provide good ideas for further processing. The student must also remember to use other sources in their studies and refer to them appropriately.
- TAMK requires students to use AI-based applications responsibly and ethically in their studies. For example, the student must mention the use of artificial intelligence in the submitted assignment or thesis and describe how the tool has been used. For example, it is fraudulent to present text, image or other output produced by artificial intelligence as one’s own contribution, or to use the system for the purpose of disrupting or harming others. In cases of fraud, TAMK's general guidelines for handling fraud are followed.
Teachers at this stage can be given a few general recommendations:
- Pedagogical practices in course implementations are based on TAMK's pedagogical principles also when teachers may use AI-based systems to support teaching, guidance, and assessment. The principle of learning orientation emphasizes diverse learning environments and flexible opportunities for development. Communality and inclusiveness emphasize learning together with others.
- The course learning targets are described in a competence-based manner with an emphasis on knowing, doing, and developing as an expert. Applications that utilise artificial intelligence can bring benefits especially to the area of knowing.
- Students are encouraged to use AI-based applications in their studies in an appropriate way and by agreeing on the principles of use together with the students. However, a student cannot be required to use, for example, ChatGPT, as it is an online service that requires registration.
- Students' source-critical thinking is supported.
- Learning assignments should be formulated in such a way that it is necessary to apply knowledge in them in many ways, they mirror the students' own experiences and highlight different situations in working life. The plagiarism checking tools (such as Turnitin) are constantly updated to also take into account the use of artificial intelligence solutions in producing text.
- When assessing the student's competence, it is worthwhile to formulate tasks in which the acquired knowledge is applied to practical work situations. Students are challenged to analyse, reflect, make informed choices, and find examples.
The practical experience with ChatGPT is very limited at the time of writing these guidelines. The guidelines will be updated as more experience of the use of artificial intelligence is accumulated.
This instruction has been prepared using ChatGPT. Several questions were entered into the application, and the first version of the instruction was created from the given answers. The text was edited several times and in the end no AI-generated sentences remained in the recommendation as such. It can be expressed that artificial intelligence made it easier to start writing this recommendation but approximately 20 per cent of text has the AI-generated origin. The key content of the recommendation is based on TAMK's pedagogical principles. The guidelines issued by the University of Tampere and the University of Jyväskylä were also used as background material.