We ask you to critically analyse your AI use, both in terms of academic integrity (see University Guidance) and as the rapid development of AI raises ethical and sustainability concerns.
Ethics
Sustainability
- AI systems, particularly large-scale models, use a massive amount of computing power. This contributes significantly to carbon emissions and water usage, especially in data centres that require extensive cooling systems. The environmental footprint of AI is becoming a growing concern.
Towards responsible AI
- International frameworks like the OECD AI principles advocate for transparency, accountability, inclusivity and sustainability in AI development.
The
University of Edinburgh has an
overview of ethical issues with examples, citing the potential for generative AI tools:
- to reproduce the biases in their training data
- to be exploited to spread misinformation, disinformation or deceptive content
- to threaten user privacy through extensive data collection
- to endanger intellectual property rights
- to displace jobs in industries that rely on content generation. They also rely on exploiting human labour to refine their models
- to impact negatively on the environment (as training AI models requires substantial energy resources).
