Principles for AI
Principles for AI at UTRGV: A Framework for Human-Centered Decision-Making and Practice
Introduction
The use of artificial intelligence in education requires thoughtful, human-centered decision-making. This framework helps faculty, staff, and students make informed choices about when, how, and whether to engage with AI tools in ways that enhance—rather than replace—human judgment, relationships, and learning.
AI tools offer opportunities to support teaching, research, professional work, and student development. At the same time, they are not universally appropriate; decisions should be guided by disciplinary context, professional standards, and individual judgment. Engagement with AI—whether adopting, limiting, or declining its use—should be intentional, transparent when appropriate, and grounded in the values of security, privacy, legality, access, and academic and professional integrity.
Guiding Principles
- Purpose-Driven Use
- AI use should be intentional and purpose-driven, undertaken when—and because––it meaningfully advances a clearly articulated learning, research, or professional purpose.
- In some contexts, limiting or declining the use of AI may better advance critical thinking, skill development, disciplinary or professional practices, or educational goals.
- Human-Centered Enhancement
- When used, AI should support, enrich, and extend human aims—strengthening human thinking, creativity, judgment, and relationships.
- Teaching and learning remain fundamentally human endeavors, with AI serving as a tool that strengthens—not diminishes—human agency, responsibility, and intellectual engagement.
- Active Learning and Intellectual Engagement
- The use of AI should advance, not displace, the development of critical thinking and deep learning.
- Faculty, staff, and students are expected to remain actively engaged in their own reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making, both with and without the use of AI tools.
- Critical Evaluation and Responsible Use
- Faculty, staff, and students are accountable for any AI outputs they use in their work.
- Decisions about AI use should reflect ethical considerations and sound professional and academic judgment.
- When AI plays a meaningful role in decisions, replaces human judgment, or affects reasonable, context-dependent expectations about how work is created, evaluated, or attributed, its use should be transparent.
- Expectations for transparency and disclosure should align with the role AI plays in the work and its potential implications for trust, responsibility, or decision-making.
- Security, Safety, Privacy, and Legality
- AI tools must be used in ways that protect data, security, privacy, and intellectual property.
- All AI use must comply with applicable laws, regulations, and institutional policies.
- Access
- UTRGV promotes access to and opportunities for effective, purposeful engagement with AI tools and works to remove barriers, including accessibility barriers.
- Broad Stakeholder Engagement
- Stakeholder engagement should be ongoing and responsive to changing needs, contexts, and impacts of AI use.
- Diverse perspectives, including those who choose not to use AI, should inform institutional guidance and practice.
- AI Fluency and Education
- The institution promotes the development of AI literacy, helping to facilitate student, faculty, and staff understanding of how, when, and whether to use AI tools responsibly and effectively.
- AI fluency includes understanding limitations, risks, and appropriate applications within disciplines and in academic and professional settings.
- Learning-Focused Culture
- A shared culture of honesty, fairness, and respect should guide both expectations for academic integrity and responses to potential violations, including in AI-related contexts.
- In line with a shared culture of honesty, fairness, and respect, AI-related academic integrity concerns should not default to suspicion or punishment, but should prioritize learning and rely on clear evidence when disciplinary action is warranted.
- Responsible Innovation and Experimentation
- The institution fosters an environment that supports responsible experimentation and innovation with AI.
- Faculty, staff, and students should have space to experiment thoughtfully and creatively, while remaining aligned with ethical, educational, and institutional standards.