At the University of Southern Maine, ethics training in artificial intelligence

The McGoldrick Center for Career & Student Services, left, the Bean Green, and the Portland Commons dorm at the University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus.

— Photo by Metrodogmedia

AI at work: Representing images on multiple layers of abstraction in deep learning.

— Photo by Sven Behnke

Edited from a New England Council report:

“The University of Southern Maine (USM) “has received a $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a training program for ethical-research practices in the age of artificial intelligence.

“With the growing prevalence of AI, especially such chatbots as Chat-GPT, experts have warned of the potential risks posed to integrity in research and technology development. Because research is an inherently stressful endeavor, often with time constraints and certain desired results, it can be tempting for researchers to cut corners, leaning on artificial intelligence to imitate the work of humans.

“At USM’s Regulatory Training and Ethics Center, faculty are studying what conditions lead to potential ethical misconduct and creating training sessions to make researchers conscious of their decisions and thoughts during their work and remain aware of stressors that might lead to mistakes in judgment. Faculty at USM believe this method will allow subjects to proactively avoid turning to unethical AI assistance.

“‘We hope to create a level of self-awareness so that when people are on the brink of taking a shortcut they will have the ability to reflect on that,’ said Bruce Thompson, a professor of psychology and principal at the USM ethics center.  ‘It’s a preemptive way to interrupt the tendency to cheat or plagiarize.’’’