Artificial Intelligence at Pepperdine University

Overview

Best Practices

AI is a powerful tool in its developmental infancy. Because its success relies on access to information, every product of AI should be measured against the following guidelines:

• Never share private data with an AI application/tool. Off-limits data includes but is not limited to: Restricted Data (for example, Social Security numbers), proprietary intellectual property (IP), or personally identifiable information (PII) such as FERPA-protected educational records, personnel records, financial data, and legal matters. If in doubt, use this rule of thumb: you should only give AI tools information that you would post on a public website.
• If you need to create a password to log into an AI service, use one that is completely different from your Pepperdine password and that meets our password standards.
• Carefully review all AI output with the understanding that generative results may include significant hallucinations, changes to your meaning, unattributed intellectual property, factual errors, and biased or inappropriate statements. Always exercise caution and validate all AI output before including it in your work.
• Everyone in the academic community is individually responsible for content accuracy and integrity, along with the ability to have their work replicated. Select academic publications prohibit the use of generative AI tools in manuscripts, and some federal granting agencies prohibit AI’s use in reviews and submissions. Considering the dynamic environment surrounding AI, it is vital to stay current with all funding-agency and publication guidelines to ensure compliance.

IT Training and LinkedIn Learning Courses

Pepperdine University offers faculty and staff training opportunities on AI. Some examples are listed below:

Partnerships

Pepperdine IT partners with individuals and groups at the University to advance the use of AI in higher education, including:

• The Artificial Intelligence in Imaging and Neuroscience Lab
• Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee
  • Pepperdine University “AI Use” Syllabus Statements
• AI Position Statement Task Force
  • Coming Soon!

AI in Action

Pepperdine University is using AI in a number of ways to improve teaching and learning.

Applications

These software packages include artificial intelligence tools, and they are currently under review at Pepperdine University:

• Asana
• Google Gemini
• Zoom

Glossary

Understanding artificial intelligence requires a working knowledge of the jargon that is commonly used in working with AI. You can refer to some of the common terms below or the full NIST AI glossary.