This guide focuses on text-based generative AI. 

We cover only AI that can generate text. Examples: ChatGPT, Gemini (formerly Bard),  Microsoft Copilot (formerly Bing Chat), etc.

The University of Arizona guide we based this on focuses on ChatGPT, but the same information is applicable to the other chatbots.

Elements of this guide may touch upon media-based generative AI. However, because media-based generative AI is controversial in the art community, as well as tangential to library research, we will not discuss it in this guide.

Want to keep up-to-date on AI developments? 

We've found Future Tools to be a good place to browse. The creator, Matt Wolfe, also has a YouTube channel with frequent updates.

We aim to keep this guide up to date, but since new developments are happening so quickly, it's possible this may be out of date when you read it.

Last updated 2/13/2024

If you are new to the practice of using generative AI tools like ChatGPT, these short videos provide a useful introduction.

Practical AI for Instructors and Students (10 to 12 minutes each)
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

• Part 1: Introduction to AI for Teachers and Students
• Part 2: Large Language Models (LLMs)
• Part 3: Prompting AI
• Part 4: AI for Teachers
• Part 5: AI for Students

Brief tutorials from the University of Arizona Libraries. Total time to complete all four, approximately 30-40 minutes.

1. The technology behind ChatGPT
2. How does ChatGPT aim to prevent harmful use?
3. What is generative AI?
4. Using ChatGPT effectively

ChatGPT can be a useful tool when it comes to deciding what your topic should be for a research paper. Try this guide for use with students.

• Generate Topics for Your Research Paper with ChatGPT - a guide for students from UA Libraries

AI literacy is the ability to:

• critically evaluate AI technologies
• communicate and collaborate effectively with AI
• use AI as a tool, online, at home, and in the workplace.

From a 2020 paper, by Long and Magerko, who synthesized a variety of interdisciplinary literature into a set of core competencies.

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