AI @ UWE Bristol
Here are some of the tools available to staff and students at UWE Bristol.
All staff and students at UWE have access to Microsoft’s premium data-protected version of the Copilot chatbot. Nothing you enter into Copilot, whether that be text, or uploaded documents or images will be available to others or used to train any AI models. This is a key advantage of Copilot over external AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini.
You must still use discretion when approaching personal and organisational data.
As staff attached to a Blackboard module, you can now easily create specific chatbots on relevant topics and even give them personas. Once published on modules, these can simulate situations that you might expect students to deal with in their discipline, such as conversations with patients, practicing procedures, and talking to literary figures.
Staff can also set up Socratic questioning AI chatbots which can challenge a student’s knowledge of particular subjects relevant to the module. These can be a useful tool for supporting student learning or reflecting on their experiences. Conversations with these chatbots aren’t usually part of any summative assessment, but you will be able to indicate that you want to review the interactions that students have had with the bots – to gain an insight into student engagement.
Students will be made aware that they are engaging with an AI. However, you should also draw attention to the artificial nature of the technology and interactions, making reflection on its use (whether pedagogical or ethical) part of the academic discussion with students.
All our staff and students have access to a number of Adobe tools that use AI to work with imagery, audio and video. Unlike other major AI tools capable of creating imagery, Adobe AI functionality has not been trained on other people’s work without their knowledge. Instead they have been trained using Adobe Stock, contributor-consented images, open-licensed, or public domain materials. This removes some of the ethical issues associated with image creation.
Adobe Express is a beginner-friendly online design tool that allows users to create posters, graphics, videos, and more using Adobe Stock assets. It includes integrated generative AI features that let users input text prompts to generate visual content, which can then be customised using a range of editing options. You can log in at express.adobe.com using your UWE details.
Adobe Podcast is an AI-powered audio editing platform aimed at simplifying audio recording and podcast production. It uses machine learning to enhance voice clarity, remove background noise, and even generate realistic voiceovers from text using AI voice synthesis. Its “Enhance Speech” feature is particularly notable, using AI to make low-quality recordings sound as if they were captured in a professional studio. You can log in at podcast.adobe.com using your UWE details.
Adobe Firefly is Adobe’s dedicated generative AI engine, designed to help users create images, text effects, and design elements from simple text prompts. Firefly is also integrated into other Adobe applications including Adobe Express, Photoshop and Illustrator, allowing users to generate and refine creative assets directly but you can log into it separately at firefly.adobe.com using your UWE details.
Studiosity is an AI-supported writing feedback service available to all UWE Bristol students. It allows them to submit written work – such as draft essays, assignments, or even CVs for instant, automated feedback. Using AI-powered analysis, Studiosity provides feedback on structure, clarity, grammar, and academic tone within minutes, helping your students to improve their submitted work and overall writing skills. Students can submit up to 8,000 words at a time, and because the tool never edits their work directly or create new content, you can encourage them to use it without any concerns about plagiarism or academic offences.
Of course, you’ll encounter many tools and platforms that use AI. Some will be obvious users of AI technology and others will be more hidden. Many will be specific to your subject or industry. You will be responsible for working across your programme, department and school to agree appropriate use of these tools.