Artificial Intelligence (AI), in particular generative AI such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini (formerly Google Bard), has been in the news rather relentlessly since last November. Since August 1, 2023, Google Gemini has been activated in Carleton’s Google Workspace for Education.
Using Google Gemini Responsibly: What should you do?
We encourage you to experiment with Google Gemini by going to gemini.google.com/app, and logging in with your Carleton credentials. Please note the opening screens discussing data security and privacy.
You are also welcome to join the Carleton Community of Practice focused on AI to learn with your colleagues about AI opportunities and concerns. Other opportunities to learn about generative AI in person are some of the LTC events and EdTech Lunches, and find additional suggestions regarding generative AI on Carleton’s Writing Across the Curriculum, or ITS’s Generative AI sites.
You may also want to interact with other AI tools (such as ChatGPT) to see how they work and to anticipate ways that students might start using these tools. Please remember not to submit any data deemed medium or high risk into any AI tool. Although some providers claim they won’t incorporate user data into their learning model, it is advisable and considered best practice to avoid putting any personal, identifiable, or proprietary data into any AI platform, such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
Again, once you have had a chance to read and think about AI, the best thing to do to get started, is to try these tools yourself. Get a feel for how it responds to your prompts, and engage with it like you were having a discussion with another person. Ask follow-up questions: Can it clarify a position? Give you a source? Explain it to you in a simpler way? In a different language? Can it create a visual chart for a piece of data? You can also ask it to generate images for you. Once you have an idea of how it responds to general questions, focus on your field of expertise, and you will be able to get a better sense of its capabilities. Remember that it will always want to give you an answer, and that any answer is better seen as a suggestion than a true statement.
Why Google Gemini:
Why are we focusing on Google Gemini rather than ChatGPT? Because of Carleton’s Google license, Gemini is already part of the application suite we support. By leveraging our Google license and access to Gemini, we can encourage equitable access to a frontier generative AI model without the need for a paid account, and create a familiar user experience for all across campus.
Although ChatGPT may be “better” in some cases, such as rephrasing an email, it is divided into a free version and a paid version. Many of our students have started using these tools, and with a free personal Google account, they already have access to Google Gemini.
How to get started:
When you are logged into your Carleton Google account, visit the Google Gemini page. Google will ask you to read an agreement that gives you a clearer sense of your options. Note that your use of Google Gemini, because you are using your Carleton Google account, is governed by our agreement with Google.
Because of Carleton’s Google license, Google Workspace for Education Plus, Gemini-entered information won’t be reviewed by human reviewers or otherwise used to improve generative AI models (retrieved Sept 16, 2024).
Learn more about Google’s privacy practices.
What’s next for Google Gemini:
Google Gemini constantly releases new updates, so listing anything here is rather futile. Note that Google is in in tight competition with a number of other companies focused on AI technology. Google is particularly interested in creating an ecosystem, so that Google users, assuming they want to pay for this technology, have Gemini as a tool that can work with user data across a group of people (like a business or college) and across all its applications. We expect to see more news about this creation of a full system rather than stunning breakthroughs in speed and creativity.