Welcome back to Editor’s Note! I have exciting news—the guidelines for campus communications around the use of generative AI are finally ready!
These have been a long time in the making, and I’ve talked to many campus communicators eager to establish guardrails for the use of generative AI, or GenAI. In a survey done last year, several of you mentioned that you were curious about AI, but unsure of how to approach it in your work. With these new guidelines, I hope those of you who are interested in using AI as a tool will feel more comfortable in doing so.
The new guidelines are available on OnMessage under the Policies and Guidelines menu. They contain a helpful list of practical dos and don’ts for GenAI in campus communications.
Even if you don’t intend to use generative AI in your work, it’s important to consider how GenAI could potentially come up in your work in other ways and have a plan for how to handle it—for example, if you’re looking for a stock image for a poster, it’s likely that you’ll find some that are AI-generated. Will you want to use those?
In creating these guidelines, I relied on the guidance already laid out by the AI@ND team, and I sought feedback from the OIT, AI Enablement team, and Office of General Counsel. I plan to keep these guidelines updated as needed. If you’re a heavy GenAI user, please consider signing up for AI@ND’s AI Community of Practice.
Some highlights of the new guidelines:
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GenAI is a tool. It is not a replacement for our writers, editors, and other creatives.
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When GenAI is used in a substantial way, it must be disclosed to your audience. The guidelines contain some sample language for such disclosures.
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Users need to be mindful of entering any sensitive information into AI tools. AI@ND has a list of which tools are approved for different categories of data.
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Anyone who uses AI must still do their own research and fact-checking, since no AI model is immune to hallucinations.
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Do not publish any stories or other content written completely by AI.
Feel free to bookmark the OnMessage page if it’s helpful. If you’d like to learn more, please join the AI Enablement team and me at a rollout session scheduled for 3:00–4:00 p.m. Thursday, October 30, in Room 227 of the ITC building. Add to calendar.
This will be a hybrid in-person/Zoom event. Space is limited, so if you would like to attend in-person, please fill out the form here to reserve a spot.
A newsletter recommendation
Communicators who are curious about AI may be interested in a newsletter offered by Mignon Fogarty, better known as Grammar Girl. In her newsletter called AI Sidequest, she digs into the latest AI news—the good and the bad—from a writer’s point of view. It’s always an interesting read, and I recommend signing up.
Pop quiz
Which is the correct style for this term?
Click on your answer to submit your response. If you have the correct response, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a prize!
A note about the pop quiz
Please think of these monthly quizzes as open-book! I don’t expect you to know the answer off the top of your head. I designed these quizzes, in fact, to get readers more comfortable using the University Style Guide to find the answer. You are encouraged to consult that before submitting your answer.
June pop quiz winner
Congrats to the winner of the June pop quiz: Erin Fennessy, writing program manager for Notre Dame Research!
Following University style, when are the names of seasons capitalized?
Never.
The four seasons—spring, summer, fall (or autumn), and winter—are not proper nouns, and so are typically not capitalized.
Terms like summer break are, really, a description of the break and not an official name, so the season names are not capitalized there either.
As usual, Merriam-Webster has a great explanation for this in this article.
What we’re reading
These are stories that we found to be interesting, fun, or thought-provoking. The views are not necessarily endorsed. Want to share a story you found? Feel free to send it to me.
How We’re Using AI
Columbia Journalism Review
21 Ways People Are Using A.I. at Work
The New York Times (gift article)
Audiences are still skeptical about generative AI in the news
Poynter
ChatGPT isn’t great for the planet. Here’s how to use AI responsibly.
The Washington Post (gift article)
With the Em Dash, A.I. Embraces a Fading Tradition
The New York Times (gift article)
Latest style guide updates
Capitalize the name for the district encompassing the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, the Charles B. Hayes Family Sculpture Park, O'Neill Hall of Music and Sacred Music, the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, and Walsh Family Hall of Architecture.
Titles such as priest-in-residence and faculty-in-residence are hyphenated in all uses.
If a politician is quoted or otherwise mentioned in running text, do not include their political affiliation unless it’s relevant. If it does need to be included, it's better to write it out than use a construction like (R-IN) after their name.
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Senator Todd Young is scheduled to speak about his time on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
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Democratic Governor Michele Lujan Grisham of New Mexico and Republican Governor Spencer Cox of Utah will join Notre Dame’s Democracy Initiative for an event titled “Pragmatism Over Polarization: A Conversation with US Governors.”
In tables or other display content, it’s best to use the shorthand (R-IN) in parentheses—abbreviate the political party (e.g., R, D, or I), followed by a hyphen and then the two-letter postal code abbreviation for the state.
ROTC stands for Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (note the apostrophe after Officers). Notre Dame has four branches on campus: Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marines.
Students in the Army and Air Force units are referred to as cadets. Students in the Naval ROTC and Marine Option are referred to as midshipmen.
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