Support #2337
open
Use of AI
80%
Description
Hello,
Like many researchers, we have been exploring ways to streamline parts of our work processes using AI tools. One example is Claude Code, which can read documentation and generate Stata code to support dataset analysis.
I wanted to check whether the team has developed any guidance on the use of AI tools in relation to Understanding Society data. The AI tools would not have access to the data files themselves, but I wondered whether there are rules around sharing supporting materials, such as questionnaires, user guides, technical reports etc.
Has there been any consideration of whether researchers can use AI with these types of materials, or should the rule of thumb be that anything publicly available is acceptable, while anything downloaded from the UK Data Service should not be used with AI?
Thanks!
Updated by Understanding Society User Support Team about 9 hours ago
- Status changed from New to Feedback
- % Done changed from 0 to 80
- Private changed from Yes to No
Hello Molly,
Thanks for contacting us to clarify this. As none of our datasets are Open Access these cannot be analysed using AI or any online tools. This is clearly mentioned in Item 5 of Section 5. "Agreement" of the End User License Agreement (https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/app/uploads/cd137-enduserlicence.pdf) that you will need to sign to access any of our End User License datasets: "To abstain from using any Online Data Tools in connection with your use of the Data Collection(s), unless explicit written permission is granted by the Data Service Provider. The Registered User acknowledges that the use of such tools may compromise data security and enable data transfer to unauthorised parties in violation of clause 4."
And Online tools is defined on page 5 - "Online Data Tools: Any software, application, system or platform that operates via the internet or a cloud-based service and is used to process, analyse, manipulate or generate data and other types of content, including but not limited to tools that employ “artificial intelligence” (AI) technologies, including generative AI technologies, that are designed to perform human-like cognitive functions such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, understanding natural language, perception and generating new or original content."
This information is also provided in Section 4.5 of the UKDS Research Data Handling Guide. https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/app/uploads/cd171-researchdatahandling.pdf
As Special License and Secure Access datasets are more restrictive, these rules apply to those types of datasets as well.
This rule does not apply to our online documentation like questionnaires, user guides, technical reports, syntax files etc which are publicly available.
If you have further questions or clarifications please let us know.
Best wishes,
Understanding Society User Support Team