This research guide is designed to help Vassar community members, with a focus on students, learn more about generative AI. We created this to help sort through the hype and sensationalization of the state of AI right now and find reliable information, while recognizing this is an evolving topic that is rapidly changing.

So what is artificial intelligence?

Technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human learning, comprehension, problem solving, decision making, creativity and autonomy. (IBM, 2024.) 

There is a lot that falls under this category. Self-driving vehicles, Amazon's Alexa, Chat GPT, and the TikTok algorithm are all examples of how AI can be used.

People often use the term "AI" as a shorthand for generative AI tools like Chat GPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and others. These programs use large language models to create outputs that are based in statistics about how words are most often paired together. This means that they are trained on huge datasets of written language and programmed to use that information to select the most likely combinations of words in response to the prompts that users give them. 

The following resources provide a good overview of how generative AI works:

• Clarke, S., Milmo, D., & and Blight, G. (2023, November 1.) How AI chatbots like ChatGPT or Bard work – visual explainer. The Guardian.
• Nield, D. (2023, April 30.) How ChatGPT and Other LLMs Work—and Where They Could Go Next. WIRED.

Ithaka S+R Generative AI Product Tracker

• A living document, update regularly as new products enter the market or new information about existing products becomes available; maintained by Ithaka S+R, a non-profit organization focused on helping academic and cultural communities navigate economic, technological, and demographic change.

AI ROBOT Test: Evaluation Tool

• An evaluation tool that that prompts users to consider questions related to a tool's reliability, objective, bias, ownership, type. Developed by librarians at McGill University. 

There are a lot of potential uses of generative AI for coursework. Some examples of ways it could be used might include: creating an outline for a paper, generating keywords for searching, or editing writing to have a different style. As you can read about in the "AI at Vassar College" section of this guide, Vassar librarians are not the absolute authority on AI usage, but we are here to help you navigate these decisions as you make your way through your classes.

We do want to note a few important things that you should know about the different ways you might use AI:

We do not recommend asking generative AI to find books, articles, and other sources for your academic work. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT use probabilities to predict the most likely combinations of words in response to the prompts they're given, but are often not fact-checked. This means that they will often generate citations that sound real but do not actually exist. In addition, ChatGPT and many similar programs actually cannot tell you where they are getting their information from, because they are not set up to do so.

Some AI tools, such as Perplexity AI, do work more like a search engine and provide links to the actual pages that their answers come from. However, this does not guarantee that those sources will be reliable or relevant. If you do end up using AI tools to search for sources, it's important to verify that they are legitimate and that they are right for your research. See our guide on Evaluating Sources for tips.

Thank you to Naima Saini VC'23, Library Administrative Fellow in 2023 - 2024, for creating this guide.