Guideline for University Teachers adopted by the Network ‘Ethical use of AI’

The German Network ‘Ethical use of AI’ has been working on a handout entitled ‘What is artificial intelli-gence (AI)?’ over the past few months and has now adopted and published it on 7th of March 2024. This first guide consists of 10 statements and a question-and-answer list together with practical recommenda-tions on two pages. It is aimed at university lecturers who want to introduce and use AI systems in their teaching.

‘We chose the short form of a handout on AI because there are already numerous studies and scientific papers on the use of AI, but so far no concise introduction that we can pass on to interested parties without prior knowledge,’ explains the head of the network Dr Christian M. Stracke from the University of Bonn. The handout closes this gap and can be used, modified and reused as desired thanks to the open and free li-cence with reference to the source.

The Network ‘Ethical use of AI’ brings together teachers and researchers from over 30 universities who also organise further education courses on how AI can change university teaching and society as a whole. Expe-rience has shown that there is huge interest in the opportunities and potential applications of AI, but there are also fears of risks and negative effects. It is therefore all the more important to provide teachers, uni-versity management and policy makers with basic information and specific practical recommendations, such as those offered for the first time in this handbook.

The independent network has now established itself as a lively community and open platform for the in-formal exchange of ideas and experiences. It deals with the personal, organisational and legal challenges of AI offerings for their ethical and trustworthy introduction and use. Since the founding meeting on 11th of May 2023, the network has met regularly once a month to exchange ideas and all interested parties are welcome to attend. It was initiated and is moderated by AI expert Christian M. Stracke from the University of Bonn, who researches AI and open education and was appointed as a member of the European AI&ED Expert Group by the Council of Europe.

Download of the German AI handout: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10793844

English translation of the AI handout: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10995669

Website of the German Network: https://ethischeki.ecompetence.eu