How to use AI as a student

On this page, you will find examples and advice on how AI can be used to support learning.

Over-reliance on AI-generated texts can hinder the development of independent, critical analysis and creative thinking skills. Writing and editing your own text is often crucial for developing subject-matter understanding and your own thought processes, alongside writing skills. The purpose of writing assignments in higher education is not primarily to assess what you have learned, but to provide an opportunity to develop your skills in academic writing and thinking. To ensure you do not miss out on this opportunity, it is vital that—if you use AI—you take the lead in the writing process and use AI as a tool and a support to improve your writing.

AI can generate summaries and simplifications of long, complex texts. This can be useful. However, it is also crucial to read the texts yourself and engage further with the content. That is how you gain a solid understanding of academic work in your subject and are able to evaluate the content and its significance. When working with AI-generated content, it is a good idea to keep the following questions in mind:

  • Can I trust the answers AI gives?
  • Do I have the opportunity to check the content against the original texts?
  • Should I phrase the question differently to get a more detailed or specific answer?
Use AI as a tool

Artificial intelligence can help you work more efficiently and provide input for both cognitive and creative tasks. Below are some suggested activities where generative AI can be a valuable resource:: 

  • AI can translate text. 
  • AI can explain concepts and create summaries. 
  • AI can kickstart writing processes and suggest topics.
  • AI can critique text and arguments. 
  • AI can improve text. 

It is important to think critically about the instructions you provide and the responses you receive from the chatbot. Also, be aware of the possibilities, limitations, and ethical considerations involved.

Writing support

To get useful answers from AI, you should be as specific as possible about what you are asking and provide context so the AI ​​can give you more precise responses. Additionally, it is important not to include sensitive personal data—such as information regarding a person's health, religion, political views, or the like. Read more about this and other legal guidelines for AI use at HVO.

AI can provide feedback on written text or on ideas you have for your writing. The various models excel at language—particularly English—but the factual accuracy of the content they generate varies. You must therefore critically evaluate the input you receive and consider how to proceed with your texts. Here are some suggestions for how to use it:

  • Ask for suggestions on how to improve your text. Feel free to request specific improvements—such as enhancing clarity, making the text more concise, using more varied language, ensuring smooth transitions between paragraphs, or the like. 
  • Ask for suggestions for alternative ways to express an argument or an idea.
  • Ask AI to challenge the arguments in your text, and use this in the process of developing and refining your own argumentation. 

To determine whether the proposal is sound and appropriate, you need insight into the subject matter. If the generated text does not quite capture what you intend to write about, you can provide more specific prompts (instructions). This process encourages you to reflect on what you want to write. Never use the generated text directly; instead, select and rewrite the parts that help you move forward with your own writing.

Source criticism and integrity

Remember to exercise critical judgment when using AI. Before you start using AI, you should thoroughly familiarize yourself with the guidelines for your course. If you are unsure, consult your course instructors regarding what constitutes acceptable AI use for the course. In general, this applies to all assessed work. For example, exam answers and mandatory assignments must be your own independent work, although the use of aids is often permitted. It is up to your course instructors to decide whether and how AI may be used. If you are required to use AI in connection with coursework requirements, mandatory assignments, or similar tasks, you must use AI tools recommended by HVO.

To use AI-generated text in an academically responsible way in your writing process, you must actively follow academic norms of fairness, accountability, and transparency. This means that it is important that you

  • clearly indicates when and how you use such texts
  • critically evaluates and verifies information from AI sources
  • do not rely on AI as the sole or primary source of information

If the task involves writing a text, this means, for example, that you must indicate within the text which sources you are drawing upon. Furthermore, you must make clear to the reader the distinction between your own voice and the voices of the authors you cite.

If you use AI-generated text while developing your own text, you must be aware that such AI-generated texts do not adhere to academic standards of reliability and transparency.

  • AI-generated text may contain errors, be inaccurate, or be misleading. Therefore, always verify the text against several other sources.
  • AI-generated text is not your own. If you use it in your own work, you must be transparent about the fact that the text is AI-generated, as well as how it was generated and used in your text.
  • AI-generated text generally does not cite sources, or the sources it does cite are not necessarily real or relevant. To be a responsible author, you must seek out, explore, and reference genuine sources.
  • Generated text can reflect biases or prejudices from the training data. By building upon these biases or prejudices, they can be amplified.
  • Do not use AI to write the text for you, but rather as a support during the writing process—for example, to generate ideas and improve your own text.

If you use AI in the process of developing your own text, you should be transparent about this and clearly explain how you have used AI and what constitutes your own independent contribution to the text's development. It is also important to familiarize yourself with the rules regarding aids permitted during exams, so that no suspicion of cheating or attempted cheating arises.

How to write a correct reference when using artificial intelligence

If you use AI tools, you should disclose that you have used them. In the APA 7 examples collection and Kildekompasset, the recommendation—in accordance with APA 7 style—is to describe in the text how you used the AI ​​tool and, if applicable, include the input you provided and the output you received in your submission. Such descriptions can, for example, be included in the methodology chapter or in relevant sections.