Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technologies

The use of AI technologies at WVSOM is subject to all institutional policies and procedures without exception.  Faculty, staff and students are reminded of the following:

  • The use of AI is not limited to present day, but continues into infinity.  All data references in AI become part of the public domain forever.  Therefore, PII (Personally Identifiable Information) should never be incorporated to the use of AI tools.  Please refer to WVSOM’s data risk categorization web page, and confirm that the data being used is for “public” consumption.  AI tools should never be used for private or restricted data.
  • Users of AI are responsible for the content that is created.  AI content can often insert inappropriate bias (political, religious) or non-factual, erroneous information (hallucinations).  Critical decision making from the results of AI content could be based on inappropriate data, so content creators and users must be cautious.  AI accuracy is at risk and users need to be aware of the pitfalls of its use.
  • Safeguards should be considered for copyright infringement or intellectual property concerns, which could open up litigation to the user and the institution.  Conversely, there are concrete protections under Intellectual Property Law for AI’s created content.
  • There is typically no contract when using AI tools (generally free) and Intellectual Property laws require an End User License Agreement.  For this reason, please reach out to the IT Department CISA (Certified Information Security Analyst), who will coordinate with Legal counsel for a review of the AI tool, whether free or purchased, on the legality of the terms of use for protection of WVSOM and the end user.  The technology purchasing review will consider security/privacy, accessibility, appropriate system architecture, integration capabilities such as Duo MFA, and flowing through the appropriate WVSOM & WV State procurement process.
  • The use of generative AI must be within WVSOM policy and procedure including those associated with academic integrity and professionalism.  Utilization of AI must be with informed caution and a deliberate review of its potential impact.  Vendors should be evaluated for compliance, algorithms and data sets should be closely monitored, and there should be a clear understanding of what AI is being used and where.  Privacy and ethics should be the guiding forces when using generative AI.

Acceptable use of AI in student curriculum

AI can be of great benefit for medical practice and learning. While AI is a rapidly expanding field, AI in curriculum can have two main functions: generative and minor editing (e.g., grammar and spellchecking). Concerns for AI related to the WVSOM curriculum will focus on generative AI. AI should not replace student growth and educational development. 

For the purposes of the curriculum, mentions of AI in this syllabus will broadly refer to any modality which utilizes algorithms or programming to generate spontaneous information related to the curriculum outside of human/student development or generation. Examples could include but are not limited to ChatGPT, Grammarly, Nuance, etc. 

As mentioned above, AI can have significant benefits. Acceptable uses of AI in the curriculum can include improving efficiency of note taking or study plan formation, helping generate ideas related to the curriculum, providing challenges and platforms for problem solving. However, there are potential consequences to the use of AI as well. AI can detract from the learning process and pose a threat to academic integrity. Use of AI could put students at risk for committing plagiarism. As with any innovative tool, there is also concern about overreliance on AI. Unacceptable use constitutes any use of AI that would bypass learning, provide answers without student engagement or logical reasoning, complete graded assignments without student input, assistance with any summative assessment without course director approval, etc.  

Each course in the curriculum is unique in its demands and organization. As such, the course director will designate when it is considered acceptable to use AI in completion of an assessment in the course. The designation will be highlighted within the syllabus. All assessments without this designation should not have AI used for the completion of the assignment without prior approval by the course director. The course director has final authority on declaring AI use as acceptable for an assignment.