Three tips for students: how to use AI responsibly

He shares some tips about things you need to know as a student to use AI in your studies in a responsible and secure manner. If used incorrectly, you risk undermining your own knowledge growth.

“Generative AI can provide powerful support in an academic context, provided you use it wisely. Use AI as a study aid, not as a shortcut to avoid working on the course contents.”

Responsible use builds on three pillars.

1. Knowledge is fundamental

Using generative AI in your studies is valuable preparation for the world of work. The combination of subject knowledge and the ability to make use of AI tools is regarded as a key future skill.

“Use AI to process knowledge through repetition, deeper understanding and organisation of material. What you shouldn’t do is use the tool to avoid learning the course content. In order to use AI effectively and correctly, you need a fundamental knowledge of the subject,” Bengtsson says.

2. Consider whether it’s appropriate

The line between when you can use AI as a study aid and when it’s not allowed varies between different components of a course. For some tasks, AI can be fully legitimate, in others not at all. This means you need to think carefully about every course and every assessment in relation to generative AI.

You can ask yourself the following questions:

• Are there any instructions? Always check whether there are specific rules about using AI in the particular course.
• Is it an assessment? Be extra restrictive in course components that involve an assessment of your knowledge.
• Will it influence the assessment? Don’t take the risk that AI will hide the real gaps in your knowledge from your teacher.
• Is it a substitute for thinking? If AI takes over the intellectual process, you should refrain from using it or be very restrictive.

3. Security and choice of system

Choose tools that preserve your privacy – and other people’s. Universities provide specific AI tools for this purpose. Students are recommended to use the University’s version of Microsoft Copilot.

By logging in with your student ID, you ensure that:

• No lecturers or external parties (such as Microsoft) can see your chats.
• Your data are not used to train language models.

You must never upload:

• Personal data
• Copyright material

“Generative AI is an effective tool. Use it to boost your learning, not as a substitute for learning. You have a responsibility to comply with course rules, make your own assessments and manage information in a secure manner,” Bengtsson concludes.

Are you interested in a deeper discussion of students’ use of AI? Read more about an upcoming seminar below.

Fatemeh Khudadadi