As in many areas of life, the old adage "you get out what you put into it" applies to using generative AI. It's a powerful tool but one that has limitations. To mitigate these limitations, you need to know how to use it effectively.
Understand the terms of use and licensing agreements associated with the AI tool you are using. Know what the AI is doing with your data: will the company use your data to further train its AI? Would you be happy with this?
Before using a generative AI tool, familiarise yourself with its strengths, limitations, and intended uses. Knowing what the tool can and cannot do is essential for effective use. Remember that generative AI is subject to bias, might have out-of-date information and can hallucinate. Think about whether what you want to use it for might make it prone to these issues. For example, creating a list of references on a specific topic may include items that have been made up.
In some tools you can see a history of your conversations. In the tool's settings you can switch off this off and delete it. You may also be able to export your history as a text document.
Some questions to think about:
There's an old trope - you can find examples on the Internet - of adults following children's instructions literally - here's a dad following his kids' instructions to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Prompting generative AI can be a bit like that with you as the child and the AI as the adult. You need to be clear and exact in your instructions. Tips:
Consider the two prompts:
Which one do you think will generate better suggestions?
Like with searching, if you don't get what you want, refine and adapt your prompt to improve the output. Imagine you're the generative AI's editor. Tell it what you need to improve the output!
Remember, generative AI produces content that sounds plausible but might be wrong. If you're not sure of something it says, do some lateral reading and check other sources; think critically!
If a generative AI tool provides a reference, confirm that the source exists. Copy the title - enclosed in exclamation marks - into a search engine and see what you get back. Also, if the source is real, check that it says what the AI tool says it does.
Copying and pasting AI-generated output straight into your work is very lazy. Read the output for sense and revise and edit it so that it integrates with the rest of your writing.
Stay up-to-date - generative AI is a fast-moving field with contentious issues around security, privacy, ethics and copyright. Are there any courses that you could take to give you a better understanding of the field?
