AI Basics
Whether you’re just getting started with AI or looking to sharpen your skills, the AI Basics page brings together essential guidance for the Furman community. Explore quick-start guides, general and Furman-specific FAQs, resources on privacy, safe and responsible use, AI literacies and competencies, model selection, and prompt writing. Students, faculty, staff, and community members will find the foundational information needed to navigate AI with confidence.
General Knowledge
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AI Quick Guide
This quick-reference guide introduces the foundational concepts of generative AI. It covers essential terminology, an overview of how generative AI works, and a comparison of popular AI models and their specialties. Faculty, staff, and students will gain a working vocabulary to engage with AI tools confidently, use them ethically in academic settings, and take practical next steps toward building AI literacy.
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GAI General FAQs
This FAQ addresses the most common questions about generative AI, from foundational concepts to practical considerations. Readers will explore how GAI works, its wide-ranging applications across fields like education, science, business, and social good, as well as its limitations, reliability concerns, and ethical and legal implications.
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GAI Furman-Specific FAQs
Faculty, staff, and students will find guidance on Furman-supported GAI models, university policies on student AI use, procedures for responding to suspected academic integrity violations, and considerations for privacy and confidentiality. The document also explores practical applications of GAI in research, scholarship, and teaching, and directs readers to campus resources including the AI @ Furman website and ITS support channels.
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Furman’s AI Literacies and Competencies
This framework outlines how Furman students, faculty, and staff can develop AI literacy by understanding how generative AI works, exploring its applications, and reflecting on its ethical, social, and personal implications. Organized around three core areas—Know and Understand; Explore, Use, and Apply; and Evaluate, Reflect, and Refine—the competencies emphasize informed, values-based engagement with AI aligned with Furman’s liberal arts mission.
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Choosing an AI Model
This guide helps users navigate the growing landscape of generative AI models by organizing them into four clear tiers. Readers will find task-based recommendations, side-by-side model comparisons, and guidance on image generators and helper bots. Designed for Furman faculty, staff, and students using BoodleBox.
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Writing Effective Prompts
This guide walks readers through the essentials of writing effective prompts for generative AI tools like Microsoft Copilot and those available in BoodleBox. It introduces two structured frameworks—CRAFT (Context, Role, Audience, Format, Task) and RISEN (Role, Instructions, Steps, End Goal, Narrowing)—alongside practical tips such as citing from provided materials, specifying what to avoid, requesting multiple versions, and using examples to guide output.
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AI Safety and Privacy
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Using AI Safely
This resource covers why even secure platforms carry residual risk, what types of information should never be entered into AI systems (including FERPA-protected records, financial data, and other Level 1 sensitive information), and best practices for verifying outputs and protecting personal and institutional data. Designed for faculty, staff, and students, the guide offers a practical advice for evaluating any prompt before submission.
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Using AI Responsibly
This document explores why AI should complement rather than replace human judgment, the user’s ongoing responsibility to verify AI-generated content (including facts, citations, and sources), the importance of transparency and disclosure, and the need to protect privacy and confidentiality. Designed for Furman faculty, staff, and students, the guide emphasizes AI literacy as a foundational skill for engaging with this evolving technology thoughtfully.
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BoodleBox Privacy
The guide helps faculty, staff, and students understand both the protections in place and their own role in safeguarding sensitive data. Readers will learn that BoodleBox is designed so user conversations remain inaccessible to other users and administrators, that the platform anonymizes prompts and offers FERPA-compliant protections, and why residual risks still warrant caution about what information is shared.
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Additional Questions?