Staff

Staff Use

UNC Charlotte is committed to the ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance academic and administrative endeavors. Staff are encouraged to understand and use AI in their work following these guiding principles.

Every staff member is responsible for understanding the Guidelines for Data Handling and determining whether or not AI is appropriate. Up to and including Level 2 data can be put into OneIT provided AI tools (Copilot, Gemini, NotebookLM, Zoom, etc).

AI Checklist

Use the following checklist when deciding if and how to use AI for an assignment:

Before You Start

Review this AI overview provided by OneIT
Know what the OneIT-provided AI tools are; use them instead of non OneIT provided tools because of University data protection agreements
Think about how AI can help you in your work e.g. writing, revising emails, summarizing data, understanding information, reporting, presentations, image creation, analysis, routine tasks, planning, scheduling, etc.
Take a course on prompt engineering
Use these training resources

Using AI

Experiment with different tools (Copilot and Gemini) to determine which you prefer
Start simple and refine your prompts
Make sure you don’t enter any private, sensitive or protected data into an AI resource.

When Complete

Critically review output; look for errors and bias
Be transparent with your use of AI, document as appropriate
Share your experience with colleagues; brainstorm other ways AI can help.

AI Uses

  • Writing Assistance: Leverage AI at specific stages of your writing process to:
    • Brainstorm ideas
    • Organize content
    • Adjust style for your audience and purpose
    • Check clarity, grammar and citations
  • Creative Assistance: Use AI as an early step in your creative process.
    • AI can inspire your creativity in art, graphic design, music, performing arts and other expressions.
    • Always credit original creators.
  • Research and Information Gathering: Synthesize and find information.
    • Ask AI to simplify complex concepts in an understandable way.
    • Locate sources and then verify AI output for credibility and relevance by reading original sources.
  • Research and Information Gathering: Synthesize and find information.
    • Ask AI to simplify complex concepts in an understandable way.
    • Locate sources and then verify AI output for credibility and relevance by reading original sources.
  • Data Analysis and Visualization: Simplify complex data.
    • Use AI to interpret data and create visualizations.
    • Ensure you can explain and justify the results. It’s important that you understand the data and how to process it to spot mistakes and explain outputs.

Risk, Errors, and Ethics of AI use

While generative AI can be an innovative and helpful tool, be aware of potential risks and ethical considerations. Limitations and ethical concerns include:

  • Bias In, Bias Out: Generative AI can perpetuate biases present in its training data.
  • Transparency of Algorithms: Lack of transparency in AI decision-making processes.
  • High Cost: Training and maintaining generative AI models is expensive.
  • Data Privacy: Risks of sensitive data being exposed or misused.
  • Intellectual Property: Challenges in protecting and respecting copyrights.
  • Misinformation: Potential for generating and spreading false information.
  • Environmental Impact: High energy consumption for training models.

Buying AI Software

We want to make sure the appropriate data protection agreements are in place. See the AI software guidance webpage for information on campus-wide and specialized AI software.

Request non campus-wide (specialized) software, including free and research-related requests, using the Software & IT-Related request form. Even if you see the software on this page, you must still request to use it for your department. This process should be followed for free software as well as software that will be paid for by P-card or invoice.

AI Resources for Staff