Guidance for Students
Preparing to enter the workforce means learning to work with artificial intelligence. Every field uses AI, even those long considered “non-technical.” Our goal is to equip you with the capabilities necessary to thrive in your field.
Make the Most of AI in Your Academic Journey
Embrace the use of responsible AI in your academic and research pursuits. This will help you reach and exceed your educational objectives. Your work with AI may contribute to life-changing discoveries here at UF, as well as prepare you for a future where this technology is everywhere.
When incorporating AI-based tools, especially generative AI, into your academic or daily activities, it is important to understand their opportunities and limitations. Understanding both is essential for responsibly integrating generative AI tools into your studies and research at the University of Florida. Always approach AI with a critical mindset and consider the broader implications of it in your work.
Opportunities
- Personalized Learning Experiences: AI-driven platforms are revolutionizing how we adapt learning materials to meet our individual learning styles and paces. By leveraging AI to analyze understanding in real-time, AI platforms offer personalized feedback beyond traditional testing environments. From self-quizzing, study guides, tutoring, and supplemental learning, AI supports diverse educational needs and makes learning more efficient and effective for every student.
- Practical Skill Development: AI plays a crucial role in skill development through simulated environments that can mirror real-world challenges. These simulations, along with instantaneous feedback provided by AI, equip you with practical skills and may improve decision-making abilities in dynamic and complex situations.
- Extended Accessibility: AI technologies provide continuous access to educational resources, thus accommodating diverse learning needs and schedules. This around the clock access allows for personalized support, overcoming time constraints and geographic limitations, ensuring that all students have equal opportunities to succeed.
- Enhancing Research Capabilities: AI significantly advances research capabilities by automating data analysis, optimizing experimental designs, and enabling the exploration of vast datasets that would otherwise be unmanageable manually. AI tools can predict trends, uncover patterns, and propose hypotheses allowing researchers to delve deeper into their own fields. In combination with the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) AI can help facilitate multidisciplinary collaborations by transcribing information across various domains, leading to innovative solutions in complex research challenges.
Limitations
- AI Is Not Sentient: Despite appearances, AI models including LLMs, do not possess the independent thought or the self-awareness of humans. These systems are trained on extensive datasets that include biases and are programed to generate the most probable responses based on data. Consequently, data that is less common or marginalized will be suppressed.
- AI Can Misinform: Generative AI tools are prone to generate misleading or fabricated information also known as “hallucination.” These models do not discern truth from falsehood but rather generate responses based on the likelihood derived from their training data.
- AI Is Biased: AI models inherently contain biases due to the data on which they are trained, which is historically and culturally specific. These biases can render tools unsuitable for ethical deliberation or decisions. Students must be cautious of these limitations in particular.
Adopt These Goals
How to Integrate AI into Your Learning
Here are some things you can do to help set yourself up for success. We consider these best practices for learning and applying any type of AI.
Syllabus guidelines may vary by college, department, and course. When considering your plan for integrating AI into assignments, review your syllabus and assignment instructions carefully. These documents will outline the expectations and rules regarding the use of AI in your coursework.
As the landscape and access to AI rapidly evolves, it is important to consider and select the right tools wisely, especially when venturing beyond those provided by the University of Florida. Here are some guidelines to consider when choosing AI tools for your needs.
Privacy Concerns
Be cautious with the data. Often, whether public or private, the information you provide is accessible to the entity that is providing access to its model or tool. It is important to recognize this and never share sensitive or personal details like credit card numbers, ID numbers, or addresses.
Understand Limitations
It is important to consider what AI tools can and cannot do. While these tools may appear superficially to be advanced, they are fundamentally large predictive models based on extensive but limited datasets. It is important to educate yourself and others on their limitations to better understand their applications and constraints.
Before using AI to enhance your work, it is important to understand the best practices and capabilities of tools. Educate yourself by consulting reliable sources and training guides. Make sure to use UF-provided or UF-approved AI tools.
University resources and support:
- Generative AI Recipes Designed to Enhance Teaching and Learning, a UFIT CITT Cookbook
- Center for Teaching Excellence: Artificial Intelligence in Teaching and Learning
- UFIT’s Center for Instructional Technology and Training:
- AI2 Center
Be cautious when selecting AI tools. Ensure that your privacy is safeguarded by using secure and UF approved platforms. If you have questions about the status of any tools, visit the UF Fast Path Solutions page or contact
Integrated Risk Management at irm-uf@ufl.edu.
When you use generative AI to assist with coursework, it is crucial to cite this in your submissions per the academic integrity guidelines. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the university’s honor code and academic integrity policies to ensure your use of AI aligns with ethical standards.
Read the Full Guide
The advice on this page is drawn from “Best Practices for Generative AI.” Find additional guidance about the implementation and use of generative AI for instructors, students, researchers, and HR professionals.
Contact AI at UF
Mailing Address
P.O. Box 113175
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611
Physical Address
105 Ayers Building at Innovation Square
720 SW Second Ave.
Gainesville, FL 32601
Call us: (352) 294-1895