AI Guidance for Students

AI chatbots can give broadly useful overviews on a lot of subjects. Even everyday Google searches now begin with AI generated answers rather than links to direct sources. Several AI tools are equipped with web search capability, which makes it easy to review some of the sources they’re drawing from. But these tools have some important limitations as sources of reliable information.

• AI models have limited datasets, excluding many scholarly publications or current academic journals.
• They lack true understanding and can’t distinguish reliable sources.
• Be aware of their tendency to fabricate information (“hallucinate”).

• Reading summaries can help prioritize reading and improve comprehension. That’s why scientific papers begin with abstracts. But writing your own notes after reading enhances long-term understanding.
• Retrieval Practice also teaches more than reviewing notes or summaries. Consider using AI to quiz you after you read rather than relying solely on AI-summaries to begin with.

• Interactive Quizzing. Instead of relying solely on AI-generated summaries, use LLMs to create practice questions based on your study material. This approach leverages retrieval practice, which is more effective for long-term retention than passive review.
• Supplementary not Primary Source. Use LLMs as a complement to, not a replacement for, primary study methods and materials. Cross-reference important information with reliable sources.
• Active Engagement. While LLMs can summarize content, writing your own notes after reading enhances long-term understanding. Use LLMs to stimulate critical thinking by discussing or debating points rather than accepting summaries passively.

Most course policies will be based on the principle that you need a deep knowledge base before you can effectively collaborate with more advanced tools. 

Before you give your work over to AI, ask yourself: am I giving up an opportunity to learn something here?

• When compared to using AI tools for learning content, using them to write papers or to complete homework assignments is more likely to be restricted by course policies. Although some people use chatbots to help outline their notes, to rephrase awkward or redundant sentences, to make their writing more concise, or to check their grammar, these are also tasks that—depending on the course and the assignment—your instructors will expect you to complete on your own or with help from the Writing Center.
• Doing work yourself is crucial for skill development. Research on feedback, for instance, shows that being asked questions improves your writing faster than having your work edited for you.
• Letting AI solve problems and generate text may hinder your learning process.
• Ask instructors in different disciplines about their views for how AI can help with academic tasks.

Many people would say that generative AI programs are even better at coding than at writing. But research shows that relying on these systems prevents you from developing the deeper understanding of programming you will need to invent new solutions or to code at higher levels.

• AI policies vary by instructor, course, and assignment. These policies are designed to support you as you learn fundamental and higher skills within each discipline.
• Ask your instructor if policies aren’t clear.
• Yale College regulations require that you cite the source for any material you submit as part of your course work, including language, images, and ideas that you source from AI.

• Check with supervisors about AI use in Yale employment. Federal regulations govern the use of many kinds of data.
• Be aware of AI policies for graduate study or fellowship applications.
• Although research shows that AI detectors are unreliable, some organizations (including potential employers) will still use them to review submitted materials.