In an environment in which AI is being urgently pushed throughout academia, we have found that pausing offers a powerful means of resistance. Students are using generative AI, at times with institutional encouragement, without guidance about how to consider the larger ramifications on the artistic, academic, or information landscape, or on their own work and learning. At Boston University, colleagues spanning the libraries and the Educational Resource Center identified a pressing need for more informed decision-making about AI tool engagement, use, and intention. This led to the development of the "Pause Before You Prompt" tool for reflection before the point of algorithmic engagement. Structured around seven concepts—ethics, consequences, privacy, copyright, transparency, personal motives, and accuracy—Pause Before You Prompt introduces mindful slowness into the AI use process. It provides students with key questions to address in advance of AI use to help them determine how or if to use generative AI products for their specific needs. We then built on this core framework to develop an accompanying assignment and in-class activity for instructors to incorporate into their courses. Pause Before You Prompt has since been published in BU's institutional repository and both library and writing instructor resources. Additionally, we successfully piloted the in-class activity with writing tutors on campus, who have now been trained to use it in their conversations with students. Meanwhile, other academic services have independently begun training their peer tutors in using Pause Before Your Prompt in their work with their fellow students. Faculty have demonstrated the tool within their own classes across disciplines. Other campus partners and stakeholders have expressed interest, including advising and student success teams and our Institute for Excellence in Teaching. Finally, library leadership has put forward a proposal for us to share Pause Before You Prompt with Boston University's AI Development Accelerator as part of their AI developments symposium series. During this session, participants discussed the process of creating this tool, with a particular focus on methods for assessing and organizing individual and institutional values. Attendees had an opportunity to reflect on the values and questions about generative AI that they feel are most critical for members of their campus community to engage with, as well as methods for effectively reaching their students and colleagues in a period of accelerating change.
Sclippa et al. (Tue,) studied this question.