Artificial Intelligence, or AI is a very broad term often used these days to describe any advanced machine learning system. See Glossary for more detailed definitions.
Generative AI refers to deep learning models that can generate text, images, and other media in response to user prompts. Behind the scenes, there is an algorithm that has been trained with massive amounts of data. As a result of this training, a GenAI model can associate user input (prompts) with the patterns learned from the training data and generate an output according to the instructions given.
It depends on the type of AI tool you are using. Popular AI chatbots and virtual assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude 3, Google Gemini or HuggingChat are based on Large Language Models (LLMs) that are trained to generate realistic text in a natural language or Vision Language Models (VLMs) that can work with both images and text. Therefore, they are particularly good at text-centric tasks, for example:
spelling and grammar correction;
suggesting synonyms;
rewording or reformulating text;
rewriting text in a particular style;
applying formatting, e.g. LaTeX, to text;
tasks that require generating new text based on a template;
autocomplete (for both text and code);
image captioning (VLMs only).
Apart from general-purpose AI chatbots and virtual assistants, there are AI-based tools optimised for particular tasks and connected to relevant knowledge bases, e.g. Elicit or Consensus for research literature review. See more examples of AI-based tools in the AI Tools for Research section of this guide.
Never assume the information generated by AI is accurate or true! While AI can produce logical and confident responses to most scenarios, it lacks any real ability to analyse information, and ultimately produce original thought. It is limited by the data it is trained upon and prone to hallucinations: generating false or misleading statements, presented as if it were a fact. See the section on AI Concerns for more information.
In most circumstances, yes, the use of generative AI tools should be cited. Your publisher may have specific guidance on how to attribute the AI tools you’ve used. Please see the section on Citing AI for more information. For generating emails and editing grammar, there is no need to credit AI unless you're simply copying and pasting its response. Remember that you are still responsible for all your communication even if it was generated by AI.
While some platforms have claimed to be able to detect AI usage, none have been able to consistently prove it. However, AI-written content can often stray significantly from our own writing styles, which is easily noticeable to the human eye. Additionally, AI-written content often contains factual errors and non-existent references that appear due to AI hallucinations and a limited knowledge base. An expert on the subject will detect these kinds of errors and understand their nature immediately.
The Library proactively supports and enhances the learning, teaching, and research activities of the University. The Library acts as a catalyst for your success as University of Galway’s hub for scholarly information discovery, sharing, and publication.
Library
University of Galway
University Road,
Galway, Ireland
T. +353 91 493399