Authorship and Ai: A Chat with Dr. Justin Whitney

By Dakota DiBenedetto
LLP Social Media Intern

Dr. Justin Whitney and Dakota DiBenedetto

Over the past few years, A.I. or artificial intelligence, has become an up and coming tool used by many students all over the world. Dr. Justin Whitney, an assistant professor in the Languages, Literature, and Philosophy Department, held a zoom seminar titled “A.I. Writing and Online Education Summit.”

A.I. or artificial intelligence is software programs that focus on performing tasks that require human intelligence such as problem-solving, reasoning, and learning. A.I. is about teaching machines or computers to mimic how humans think and learn. Normally, this involves several techniques that include algorithms and systems to analyze data that spits out patterns.

Dr. Whitney is well versed in A.I. and had more to say in our interview. We spoke of  A.I. and its relationship to authenticity, misinformation, and misuse.

What is A.I. or artificial intelligence?

Dr. Whitney explains that artificial intelligence today is two things: a large language and a natural language model. It is a statistical analysis that analyzes what should be next through statistics. The first artificial intelligence was created in 1956 and was a government sponsored program.

How do you ensure A.I. remains ethical and accurate?

During our conversation Dr. Whitney compared remixing music to editing A.I. and asked the question of whether you still deserve the credit as much. I shared with him how in a class I once was instructed to use A.I as a reference: he believed that is a good way because it can be used as a research tool, however, students should be careful because A.I. can contain misinformation.

How are you integrating A.I. into teaching or the research process?

“A metaphor I use in class is if I use a laser pointer and move it an inch it makes a big difference and that's how A.I. is.” He explained, students should use it at the very beginning and the end as a part of help with outlining then write the paper yourself to remain having author ownership.

Do you see A.I. as a threat long term to those students going into the professional world?

“It would integrate itself into our lives and eventually our computers.” He compared it to a Black Mirror episode of what life could possibly be eventually if AI consumes us. Ultimately, what it takes to get a job or an A letter grade will be harder.

Dr. Whitney will teach a new LLP class this Fall: