Dunne’s AI spot raises questions about NIL ethics
BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne's endorsement of an artificial intelligence essay-writing product is raising questions about whether college athletic programs should provide clearer ethical guidelines for athletes earning money from name, image and likeness contracts.
“It does seem problematic to have people sort of promoting plagiarism,” said John Basl, a philosophy professor at Northeastern University in Boston who specializes in AI and data ethics, and who also is a faculty affiliate of Harvard's Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society.
“It does seem like something colleges should teach students not to do,” Basl added.
Dunne's endorsement of a Caktus.AI product appeared recently in the form of a 10-second video post on social media sites including TikTok and YouTube.
Dunne does not speak in the video, but a written quotation representing her thinking states: “Need to get my creativity flowing for an essay due at midnight.”
The video then shows Dunne on her laptop as a program takes a few key words about why gymnastics is “the hardest sport” and almost instantaneously produces numerous paragraphs of text on the subject.
It closes with Dunne delivering an emphatic “thumbs up” gesture.
LSU declined to comment on Dunne's post, but did provide a written statement urging that students use caution with such technologies — and warning that they can be sanctioned for misusing it.
“Technology, including AI, can foster learning and creativity. At LSU, our professors and students are empowered to use technology for learning and pursuing the highest standards of academic integrity,” the LSU statement read. “However, using AI to produce work that a student then represents as one's own could result in a charge of academic misconduct.”
While Basl agreed with LSU's statement, he also said he could foresee colleges increasingly frowning on athletes promoting new technologies in ways which neglect to emphasize the importance of using such products responsibly.
In the case of Dunne's post, Basl said, “The implicature of the 10 seconds is: Here's an easy-peasy way to write an essay.”
“It's almost like if a student said, ‘I get drunk and get home using my Tesla's autopilot,' or something like that,” Basl continued. “So, it would be appropriate for LSU to say it would not approve of its athletes endorsing the unethical use of these tools.”
Jake Kasper, assistant director for Michigan State's office of student support and accountability, said it's a mistake for educators or schools to look at AI and say, “This is horrific.' I think there's things that we need to consider when it comes to artificial intelligence, is how can it be a tool for learning.”