Librarians and library staff at the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library serve as responsible stewards of AI literacy. We model best practices, provide training, and guide faculty and students in the ethical and effective use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in teaching, learning, and research.

Core Principles

• Protecting Privacy – safeguard personal and research data by encouraging the use of institutionally approved platforms and by minimizing the collection of sensitive information.
• Ensuring Transparency – disclose when AI tools are used in our work and explain how outputs are generated and evaluated.
• Promoting Fairness – critically review AI outputs to identify and mitigate bias and guide faculty and students to do the same.
• Maintaining Accountability – emphasize that AI is a support tool, not a replacement for scholarly expertise, critical thinking, or human judgment.

Tools We Model and Support

• Microsoft Copilot – used in our enterprise Microsoft environment to draft policies, manage documents, and support workflow efficiencies. Enterprise chats are not used for model training.
• ProQuest & JSTOR AI Research Assistants – embedded tools that summarize and navigate scholarly content. Outputs must always be checked against primary sources.
• Litmaps – citation mapping to discover literature and set alerts for new publications.

Other AI Tools Used

Librarians and library staff may also utilize additional AI tools, such as ReadAI, for meeting transcription and summarization in Teams or Zoom. While these are not formally supported by the Library, staff using personally purchased subscriptions or external AI tools must follow the same responsible use protocols. These tools should be treated as instruments to create, design, implement, and monitor, with the same expectations of transparency, data protection, and accountability.

How We Address AI Limitations

• Generative AI (GenAI) tools are predictive models, not intelligent beings.
• Verify outputs – AI-generated content may be inaccurate, misleading, or fabricated. Always fact-check before use or publication.
• You are responsible for any content you produce or publish that includes AI-generated material. Review carefully for accuracy, clarity, and originality.
• Uphold academic integrity – follow faculty/student handbook policies and be transparent about acceptable use.

Data Protection Practices We Promote

• Be transparent about how data will be used and processed.
• Collect and process only the minimum necessary data.
• Review the site’s terms of use and conditions before adopting third-party AI platforms.
• Give participants a voice in how their data is collected and used.
• Comply with institutional data security standards. Do not enter confidential or restricted information into public-facing AI platforms.
• Be alert to phishing and security risks when interacting with AI tools.

Supporting Faculty and Students

• Educate faculty and students on institutionally supported AI tools to ensure privacy, security, and ethical use.
• Clarify expectations about academic integrity, citation practices, and syllabus language regarding AI use.
• Guide users in verifying AI outputs, evaluating sources, and developing critical thinking skills.
• Support faculty adoption of AI tools in teaching and research while reinforcing rigor and responsibility.

Continuous Engagement

We continually evaluate AI tools, provide training, and create opportunities for dialogue about the responsible use of AI. By modeling ethical practices and providing expert guidance, librarians and library staff ensure that AI strengthens rather than undermines teaching, learning, and scholarship across the AUC.