Five Levels of Ethical AI Use For Students

In a previous section, we introduced the five ethical levels of Generative AI use in Academia. Here we expand on this resource to inform your decisions to use Generative AI for a particular task.

**The various roles that GenAI can take on in academia**
Adapted from Piers Steel, University of Calgary
Role	Description	Uses
Level 1: “Copy Editor”	You have written it and use it to clean up and improve writing. Like a copy editor, GenAI would be used to check….	grammar and spelling language for non-native speakers and translations tone audience language level
Level 2: “Creative Assistant”	Provides suggestions regarding improvements to writing. Like a creative assistant, Gen AI would be used to make suggestions to improve… *User is still responsible for vetting all suggestions and abiding by all compliance regulations regarding data privacy.	Outline Overall paper structure or product design Design Ideas / Brainstorming General Interpretation of Data Gaps
Level 3: “Co-Author”	Provides preliminary drafts from an outline or data set. Like a co-author, Gen AI would contribute by generate content such as… *User is responsible for vetting all suggestions and analyses, abiding by all data privacy and compliance regulations, and being transparent about use.	Proposing novel research questions or creative ideas Synthesizing articles and literature reviews Drafting sections of a paper or assignment Conducting statistical analyses Generating data figures and tables Interpreting results
Level 4: “Independent Researcher”	Independently decides on design, research, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination decisions from inception to final product. Like a Independent Researcher, Gen AI would be used to make design and analysis decisions while also generating all the content such as… *Human Involvement is limited.	Proposing novel research questions based on trends and gaps in the literature Collecting data from publicly available datasets through web scraping Deciding on and conducting its own analysis Writing up findings Submitting paper/art for publication or product for manufacturing, etc
Level 5: “Autonomous Academic”	Directs an entire project and team Like a an Autonomous academic, Gen AI would be used to oversee a team and executive decisions by… *Human Involvement is irrelevant. AI is no longer a tool but a fully integrated member of the academic community.	Managing a project and its team. Allocating resources Coordinating a team of human and AI members Adapts to dynamic project changes Handles grant applications, ethical review processes, legal matters, and disseminates findings

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