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CHEM 360: Biochemistry (Bencze)

This guide was designed for students in CHEM 360. It includes research tips and resources for doing background research and finding primary literature for diseases, proteins, and genes. Also included are tips for searching, writing and editing, and citing

Statement of the Use of AI on this Assignment

Statement of Using AI on this CHEM 360 Assignment

The students are to request permission and acknowledge the use of AI for parts 4-7 of the project

4. Description of the disease progression and the organ(s) affected

5. Description of the symptoms during disease progression

6. Drugs and/or treatments used to cure the disease in question (if applicable)

7. Discuss the ethical issues related to the type of treatment necessary (if applicable)

More specifically:

  • Students will submit the text used as a prompt in the AI-generating software as well as the result/output.
  • Then the students will critically analyze and update/revise the output text including adding references to support the statements in the final version of the text.
  • Students are allowed to use AI-generating software to correct the sentence structure and grammar of their text (same strategy outlined above).

Microsoft Copilot at FHSU

Microsoft Copilot

As part of FHSU's Microsoft 365 license, faculty, staff and students have access to Microsoft’s Copilot AI. It is very similar to ChatGPT.

To use Copilot AI (and FHSU's added benefits of data protection)

  1. Visit: https://copilot.microsoft.com/
  2. Sign in with your TigerNetID

When you use Copilot with your TigerNetID:

  • You inherit FHSU’s existing Microsoft 365 security, privacy, identity, and compliance policies
  • You have commercial data protection, which means that your chat data isn’t saved or used to train the large language model (Microsoft can't see or use your data)

Tips for Prompting AI

Tips for Prompt Engineering

As with a human, when you give a large-language model a task, providing specific instructions yields better results. Here are some ways to be specific:

  • Provide a role: "You are a scientist who studies dark matter."
  • Provide an audience: " . . . for an audience of second graders."
  • Specify a tone for the response: "In a scholarly tone, . . ."
  • Specify a format for the response: "In five bullet points, . . .
  • Ask the tool to "think it through step by step"

Make your prompt CLEAR:

  • Concise - brevity and clarity
  • Logical - structured and coherent
  • Explicit - clear output specifications
  • Adaptive - flexiblity and customization in prompts
  • Reflective - continuous evaluation and improvement of prompts

Learn more about prompt engineering:

Evaluating AI Outputs

Tips for Evaluating AI-Generated Outputs

Generative AI Tools are known for common faults, especially when selecting and citing sources. Your assignment walks you through a few different ways to use AI for your project. It can be helpful in generating ideas, but not for finding sources. 

What to Watch For

How to Resolve It

Investigate
False or non-existent sources
(books and articles that don't exist; also called hallucinations) 		 ALWAYS check the sources cited in AI-generated outputs Does this source exist?
Failure to accurately cite sources ALWAYS check the sources cited in AI-generated outputs Was the information in the cited source summarized and used accurately and correctly?
Poor prompts = Poor outputs Read about tips for prompting AI Tools. Don't use your first prompt or your first output. What would a "GOOD" output look like? How can I adjust my prompt to generate a better output?
Incomplete or broad statements that dance around the details of the prompt Experiment with different ways to write your AI prompt. Don't use your first prompt or your first output. What would a "GOOD" output look like? Does the AI output fully address the assignment prompt? Do you need to revise your AI prompt to include other aspects of the assignment?
Inaccurate claims

Do your own research to find reliable sources that corroborate the AI-generated claims.

 What are other sources that cover this topic in a similar way?
Outdated sources

Large language models operate off of training dataset that may not include current information.

Add sources from your own research of recently published articles on the topic.

 What does recent research reveal about this topic?

How to Cite an AI Prompt

Citing AI-Generated Content

Remember the reasons why we cite ANY source:

1) to give credit to the author/creator

2) to help others locate the sources you used

This foundation of academic integrity will help you learn WHEN and HOW to cite AI-generated content.

WHEN TO CITE

Just as you would with any other source, you should USE quotation marks and a citation to indicate any sentences that were generated or suggested by AI tools.

Just as you would with any other sources, you should LIMIT the amount of text you cite to a quotation of 1-2 sentences because AI should SUPPORT your work, it shouldn't BE your work.

HOW TO CITE

OpenAI, ChatGPT. Response to prompt: “Explain what is meant by the term  ‘Triple Bottom Line’” (February 15, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/).

Other Large Language Model (LLM) Options

  • ChatGPT has two versions, a free version and a paid version. The paid version uses a more advanced language model and enables you to use plugins and connect to the internet. 
  • ChatGPT is good at brainstorming and providing explanations. Because it doesn't link to material elsewhere on the web, its responses are usually very comprehensive.
  • Microsoft Copilot uses the GPT-4 language model, the same model used by the paid version of ChatGPT.
  • Microsoft Copilot is connected to the internet. It answers questions more slowly than the other LLMs because it is actively searching the internet. It usually provides source links or suggested links for more information on a topic.
  • Google Bard is connected to the internet.
  • As of July 2023, Bard is more concise and less creative than other LLMs. It tends to provide responses in bullet points.