Ross-Ibarra Lab Policy on AI Usage

This document outlines the Ross-Ibarra Lab (RILab) guidelines for using AI tools in research, writing, and coding. The expectations differ by experience level: what is appropriate for an expert may not be appropriate for a beginner, because part of training is learning to do the work yourself first.

General Best Practices

These principles apply to everyone in the lab, regardless of experience level:

Always check AI output before relying on it.
Ask for sources and verify them.
Accountability — independently validate what the AI produces.
Ask questions about assumptions the AI (or you) may be making.
Ask before sharing others’ writing and code with AI tools.
Feedback from a human will almost always be more helpful than AI.
When in doubt, ask someone!
Should you learn it? If knowing this is important to your development, do it yourself. If not, you can use AI.
Generally: Could you do it without AI? If not, do not use it until you can.
Ask for point-by-point review of text, rather than have AI rewrite anything.
Ask to see code rather than blindly accepting it.
Reading, interpreting facts, and synthesizing content are core scholarly skills you are expected to develop and own.
AI should never outline a draft or rewrite your writing — the thinking embedded in drafting and writing is yours to do.

Usage Guidelines by Experience Level

The tables below specify what is appropriate at each level across three task categories — writing, research, and coding & analysis — under three permission tiers:

Never okay — do not use AI for these tasks.
Case-by-case — acceptable in some situations; use judgment and check in if unsure.
Always okay — AI use is fine for these tasks.

Beginner

Category	Never okay	Case-by-case	Always okay
Writing	Outline a draft; rewrite anything	—	Typos and spelling
Research	Read; interpret facts; synthesize content	Find articles	Basic facts (with a source)
Coding & analysis	Basic syntax; writing functions; writing a whole pipeline	Code review (checking for errors)	Explaining code

Intermediate

Category	Never okay	Case-by-case	Always okay
Writing	Outline a draft; rewrite anything	Editing and feedback	Typos and spelling
Research	Read; interpret facts; synthesize content	—	Find articles; basic facts (with a source)
Coding & analysis	Writing a whole pipeline	Writing functions; code review	Basic syntax; explaining code

Expert

Category	Never okay	Case-by-case	Always okay
Writing	Outline a draft; rewrite anything	Editing and feedback	Typos and spelling
Research	—	Read; interpret facts; synthesize content	Find articles; basic facts (with a source)
Coding & analysis	—	Writing a pipeline; directly analyze data	Basic syntax; writing functions; code review; explaining code