Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the use of programs, machines, and systems that simulate human intelligence. While AI has many applications, it is most commonly used to describe any type of technology (including voice recognition, robotics, and intelligent agents) to mimic human learning, problem solving, and logic (Whitson, 2023).

Artificial intelligence is used across all industries and academic subjects. The term is used to describe a variety of functions, such as finding the best route on Apple and Google Maps, self-driving cars, algorithms to display a list in a certain order on a website or in a social media app, and facial recognition software to unlock a smart phone. It is part of our everyday lives, at work, in school and at home.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has taken the world by storm. AI tools, such as ChatGPT, can create content in response to prompts that you type in. ChatGPT can, for example, help you plan an outline for a paper, create works of visual art, write computer code, and much more. Because AI is so new and so powerful, universities like UMGC are developing polices and guidelines having to do with AI and how students might be able to use it ethically and safely. 

This guide has been created for students and instructors to explore how to responsibly and ethically use AI in their work. There is information about how to critically engage with AI tools, examples and further reading on how students and instructors can use AI tools in their work, as well as information about AI literacy, citing AI, and info on tools such as ChatGPT and others.

As Eaton and Anselmo (2023) described, “If we think of artificial intelligence apps as another tool that students can use to ethically demonstrate their knowledge and learning, then we can emphasize learning as a process not a product.”

Please note that most links in this guide open in new windows.

Below are guides for using AI, for students and faculty, as well as information on the evolving landscape of AI in education and in the workplace.

Guides for Students

• Google/Gemini: AI Guides for College Students

  Videos from Google showing how to use Gemini (or other AIs) to help you with everything from studying to writing to a job search.

• AI and Your Learning: A Guide for Students

  Stanford University’s guide helps college students understand how to use generative AI tools responsibly, ethically, and effectively to support their academic success while maintaining integrity.

Guides for Faculty

• AI for Teachers: An Open Textbook

  This 2024 Pressbook is designed to help educators understand and integrate artificial intelligence into their teaching.

• A Guide to Teaching and Learning with Artificial Intelligence

  A 2025 Pressbook providing educators with practical and ethical strategies to integrate AI tools into the classroom across disciplines.

• Streamlined Instructional Design with AI

  This 2025 Pressbook aims to make artificial intelligence more accessible to educators and instructional designers through practical strategies, engaging narratives, and a strong emphasis on equity and social justice.

AI and Education

• AI and the Future of Education: Disruptions, Dilemmas and Directions

  This UNESCO report discusses how AI is reshaping education around the world, often unequally, and calls for a reimagining of pedagogy, policy, and ethics to ensure inclusive, human-centered learning.

• AI in Education Report: Insights to Support Teaching and Learning

  This 2025 report from Microsoft​ describes AI as a creative partner and a workforce imperative, while also highlighting concerns around ethics and overreliance.

• AI's Impact on Education in 2025

  The Cengage Group found that college students are eager to use AI for learning, but many feel unprepared for the workforce due to gaps in AI instruction; meanwhile, faculty are cautiously exploring AI’s potential to personalize education and reduce workload.

• Classrooms Are Adapting to AI

  A 2025 article from the American Psychological Association exploring how tools like ChatGPT are widely used by teens for homework, prompting educators and psychologists to explore how AI can support learning without undermining social-emotional development or academic integrity.

AI in the Workplace

• AI at Work: Momentum Builds but Gaps Remain

  This report from Boston Consulting Group show how AI affects different levels of the workforce and what companies can do to bridge adoption gaps.

• Pew Research: Worker Sentiment on AI

  This 2025 survey reveals that while some U.S. workers feel hopeful about AI, many are worried about job displacement and overwhelmed by the pace of change.

• Superagency in the Workplace: Empowering People to Unlock AI’s Full Potential

  McKinsey, a management consulting firm, compares AI’s impact on the workplace to the Industrial Revolution, emphasizing its ability to reshape productivity and creativity.

This guide was created by Julie Harding and Robert Miller, UMGC Library. 

Parts of this guide are adapted (with changes) or reused from a guide created by Bronte Chiang at the University of Calgary. The University of Calgary guide is under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

References on this page:

Eaton, (S.), & Anselmo, L. (2023). Teaching and learning with artificial intelligence apps. Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning

Whitson, G. M. . I. B. M., PhD. (2023). Artificial intelligence. Salem Press Encyclopedia of Science.