Medicine

As part of your self-directed learning, you draw on multiple sources of information including textbooks, journal literature, library databases, question banks, lecture presentations & notes, etc.  AI can be another assistive tool for your self-directed learning, enhancing the finding, organization, and studying of information. 

Just as with all information seeking, when using an AI tool to gather information about a topic, critical appraisal is an important part of the process.  You should look carefully at the AI outputs:

• evaluate its accuracy by verifying it with additional sources
• determine the relevancy of the information to your information need
• assess whether the information is the current understanding of the topic
• make sure the information comes from a legitimate and vetted source (with a verifiable citation from an academic/evidence-based source)
• dig down into the cited source(s) of the AI output

Some Precautions When Using AI

• Beware of hallucinations - AI tools can make up credible-sounding citations to sources that do not exist
• Free AI tools can and will use your inputs and your personal data for training purposes
• Free AI tools will only be able to source from information found on the open web, thus the outputs will be missing relevant information from pay-walled content
• If you decide to upload articles or other text from a published source into your AI tool, know that uploading articles from subscription-based sources violates copyright.
• Most AI tools are NOT PHI, HIPAA or FERPA compliant, meaning you should never enter patient data into the tool
• Consider using the AI tools, such as Microsoft Copilot, that have been vetted and approved by the university to ensure compliance with applicable privacy and security standards.