George Brown Polytechnic is located on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and other Indigenous peoples who have lived here over time. We are grateful to share this land as treaty people who learn, work and live in the community with each other.
AI tools can support learning, teaching, communication, planning, analysis, creativity, and everyday productivity. They can help users draft content, summarize information, generate ideas, organize work, explore topics, and improve workflows.
Responsible use starts with understanding the tool, the task, and the type of information involved. Not all AI tools have the same privacy, security, or data protection settings. Before using an AI tool, users should consider whether the tool is institutionally supported, whether the information is appropriate to enter, and whether the output needs review, verification, citation, or approval.
George Brown Polytechnic encourages thoughtful and responsible AI use that keeps people, purpose, privacy, security, accessibility, and accountability at the centre. AI can be a powerful support, but users remain responsible for how it is used, what information they enter, and how they apply its outputs.
Start With the Right Tool
Whenever possible, use AI tools that are available through George Brown Polytechnic or approved for institutional use. Institutionally supported tools provide a stronger privacy and security foundation than unsupported public AI tools.
Before choosing a tool, consider:
- what you want the tool to do
- whether the tool is institutionally supported
- what information you need to enter
- whether the task involves personal, confidential, sensitive, or regulated information
- whether the output will be used for academic, operational, administrative, or public-facing purposes
- whether human review or approval is required before using the output
If you are unsure whether a tool is appropriate for your task, contact the AI Centre of Excellence or the relevant service area before using it.
Know What Information You Can Enter
Different AI tools have different privacy, security, and data protection settings. Before entering information into an AI tool, consider the type of tool you are using and the type of information involved.
Unsupported public AI tools
- Do not enter George Brown work information, institutional data, personal information, or confidential content into unsupported public AI tools.
Institutionally supported AI tools
- Tools accessed through George Brown single sign-on, such as Microsoft Copilot Chat or ChatGPT Edu where available, provide a stronger privacy and security foundation than unsupported public tools. These tools may be appropriate for some George Brown work-related content when used through approved institutional access and in alignment with George Brown guidance, policies, and privacy practices.
Highly sensitive information:
- Do not enter highly sensitive information such as health records into any AI tool. When in doubt, check with your direct supervisor or manager.
AI Accuracy, Hallucinations & Bias
AI-generated content can be useful, but it can also be incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, biased, or misleading. AI tools can produce confident-sounding responses that are wrong, cite sources incorrectly, invent details, or miss important context. These errors are often called hallucinations.
Users are responsible for critically evaluating AI outputs before using or sharing them. A human-in-the-loop approach should be used whenever AI contributes to content, analysis, recommendations, communications, or decisions. This means you are responsible for reviewing the output, checking accuracy, applying context, and making the final decision.
Before relying on AI-generated content, ask:
- Is the information accurate and current?
- Can the information be verified through a trusted source?
- Does the output include unsupported claims, invented details, or unclear evidence?
- Does the response reflect bias, stereotyping, or exclusionary assumptions?
- Is the output appropriate for the audience, context, and purpose?
- Does the content align with George Brown guidance, policies, and values?
- Does the output need review by a subject matter expert?
- Does the work require citation, attribution, or disclosure?
AI should support human judgment, not replace it. Users should review, verify, and adapt AI-generated outputs before applying them in teaching, learning, work, communication, or decision-making contexts.
Consider Ethics, Social Impact & Sustainability
Responsible AI use is not only about choosing the right tool. It also means thinking critically about the broader ethical, social, and environmental impacts of AI.
Before using AI, consider:
- whether the tool or output could reinforce bias, stereotypes, or exclusion
- whether the use of AI is transparent and appropriate for the context
- whether people affected by the output would understand how AI was used
- whether AI use could create accessibility barriers or unequal outcomes
- whether the task requires human judgment, care, or lived experience
- whether the environmental impact of using AI is reasonable for the task
- whether the tool is being used purposefully, rather than as a default replacement for search, research, expertise, or conversation
AI should be used with intention. It is not always the right tool for every task, and it should not be treated only as a replacement for Google or other information-seeking tools. In many cases, AI works best as a thinking partner, drafting aid, planning support, or way to explore ideas before applying human judgment and subject matter expertise.
The goal is to use AI effectively, responsibly, and proportionately. Choose AI when it adds value, supports learning or work, and aligns with George Brown Polytechnic’s commitment to people, purpose, accountability, accessibility, and inclusive innovation.
Use AI Transparently
Transparency helps build trust. In some cases, users may need to disclose when AI has been used, especially in academic, public-facing, decision-support, or collaborative contexts.
Disclosure expectations may depend on the course, project, service area, or intended use. Students should follow course-specific instructions and ask their faculty member or instructor when they are unsure whether AI use is permitted or should be acknowledged.
Employees should consider whether AI use should be disclosed when it contributes meaningfully to content, analysis, recommendations, or materials shared with others.
For guidance on citation, attribution, copyright, and acknowledging AI use, visit Library, Copyright & Citation Resources.
Keep People at the Centre
AI tools should support learning, work, creativity, service, and decision-making, but people remain responsible for context, care, judgment, and accountability. AI should not be used to make decisions about people without appropriate review, approval, transparency, and oversight. This is especially important in contexts involving students, employees, applicants, services, accessibility, accommodations, discipline, assessment, or other high-impact decisions.
Use External AI Tools With Caution
The number of AI tools available online can feel overwhelming. External directories, such as There's An AI For That, list approximately 50,000 AI tools across a wide range of tasks. These directories can be useful for discovery, but they should not be treated as approval lists.
A good place to start is with the AI tools that are institutionally supported at George Brown Polytechnic, such as Microsoft Copilot Chat and ChatGPT Edu where available. These tools provide a stronger privacy and security foundation than unsupported public tools and are better suited for some George Brown work-related use.
For personal exploration, public AI tools can be useful for experimenting, learning, and understanding what different tools can do. However, users should avoid entering George Brown work information, institutional data, personal information, or confidential content into unsupported public tools.
Before using an external AI tool for George Brown-related work, consider:
- who owns or operates the tool
- what data the tool collects
- whether prompts, uploads, or outputs may be stored, reviewed, shared, or used for training
- whether the tool requires account creation
- whether the tool meets accessibility needs
- whether the tool creates copyright, licensing, privacy, or data protection concerns
- whether the tool can explain how it generates outputs, recommendations, or decisions
- whether the tool has been reviewed or approved for institutional use
AI explainability (XAI) is especially important when a tool produces recommendations, classifications, scores, summaries, decisions, or other outputs that could affect people, services, learning, or work. Users should be able to understand, at an appropriate level, how a tool works, what information it uses, what its limitations are, and how its outputs should be interpreted.
Inclusion in an external directory does not mean a tool is approved, endorsed, secure, accessible, or supported by George Brown Polytechnic. For George Brown-related work, use institutionally supported tools whenever possible and follow institutional guidance before using external tools with institutional information.
Related pages:
- Review George Brown Polytechnic’s Position on AI & Guiding Principles for AI Use
- Visit Academic & Student Conduct Policies
- Visit Technology & Cybersecurity Policies
- Visit Employee Code of Conduct Policies
- Visit Library, Copyright & Citation Resources
- Visit Teaching & Learning Resources
- Visit Microsoft Copilot
- Visit ChatGPT
Contact the AI Centre of Excellence.