AI Foundations
Understand how modern AI works, what it can/can’t do, and where errors come from.
Discover/UCU Libraries & Archives
NEXAI: Nexus for Ethical eXperimental AI
A future-facing AI literacy program under Uganda Christian University Libraries and Archives — aligned with Imago Dei Nexus — built to help students, staff, faculty, and researchers use AI tools safely, ethically, and effectively for academic work.
Formerly: AILA (AI Literacy Academy).
Program aim
Build confident AI users who can evaluate, verify, and create—with integrity and evidence-first habits.
Library-led
Anchored in information literacy: source quality, citation practice, plagiarism avoidance, and research transparency.
Hands-on labs
Guided practice with prompts, evaluation rubrics, and real academic tasks—notes, literature reviews, and study plans.
What you will learn
NEXAI focuses on practical literacy: using AI as a tool while keeping your work verifiable, original, and aligned with UCU values.
Research Workflows
Use AI to brainstorm, outline, and synthesize—without losing academic rigor.
Verification Skills
Cross-check claims, trace sources, and detect hallucinations and fabricated citations.
Academic Integrity
Apply ethical use, citation norms, and transparent disclosure for AI-assisted work.
Data & Privacy
Protect personal/sensitive information and make safe choices about tools and sharing.
Career Readiness
Build employable AI literacy: prompt design, evaluation, and responsible automation.
AI literacy pathway
A guided learning path you can reuse
Want this for your class or department? Request a tailored clinic.
Start here
Orientation
Define your use-case and the boundaries for responsible use.
Hands-on
Promptcraft
Write prompts that are specific, auditable, and aligned to your task.
Verify
Evidence
Require citations, cross-check with trusted sources, and keep a trail.
Disclose
Integrity
Clarify what AI did, what you verified, and what remains uncertain.
Deliver
Create
Produce stronger outputs: notes, briefs, lesson plans, and research drafts.
Academic AI integrity
Use AI with evidence, originality, and transparency
NEXAI treats AI as an evidence workflow. The goal is not “better answers”—it is better academic work: traceable sources, accurate claims, and honest attribution.
Disclose responsibly
State what AI helped with (brainstorming, outlining, editing), what you verified, and what you wrote yourself—especially for graded work.
Evidence-first by default
Treat AI output as a draft hypothesis. Confirm facts in your readings, databases, and trusted references before using them.
Never invent citations
If you can’t find the source yourself, you can’t cite it. Prefer library databases and official publications over anonymous web pages.
Protect assessment integrity
Do not use AI in exams or restricted assignments. When rules are unclear, ask your lecturer or supervisor before using AI.
Keep originality + voice
AI can help structure and clarity, but your argument, analysis, and interpretation must remain your own.
Privacy + sensitive data
Do not paste personal records, confidential data, or unpublished research into tools you don’t control. Use anonymized examples.
Do
- Use AI to generate options (outlines, questions, wording) then choose intentionally.
- Ask for sources, then open and read those sources yourself.
- Keep a trail: prompts, notes, citations, and decisions you made.
- Use AI to critique your draft (logic, clarity, bias), not replace your thinking.
Avoid
- Submitting AI text as your own without permission/disclosure.
- Citing sources you did not personally access and verify.
- Copying long outputs into assignments (patchwriting/plagiarism risk).
- Sharing confidential data or unpublished research with unknown tools.
Disclosure templates
Use a disclosure statement when your course, department, or supervisor requires it. Adjust to match what you actually did.
Short disclosure
AI assistance disclosure (short): I used an AI tool to help brainstorm and outline this work. I verified key claims against trusted sources and wrote the final submission myself.
Detailed disclosure
AI assistance disclosure (detailed): I used an AI tool to (1) generate alternative outlines, (2) suggest clearer wording for non-technical sentences, and (3) produce a draft summary of my notes. I did not use AI to fabricate sources or evidence. I verified factual claims and citations by locating the original sources in trusted databases and official publications. The final arguments, analysis, and writing are my own.
Verification checklist (use before you submit)
Use this checklist to catch hallucinations, weak sourcing, and accidental plagiarism.
- Every factual claim is supported by a source I can open and read.
- All citations point to real, relevant documents (no fabricated titles/authors/DOIs).
- I checked dates, names, and numbers against the original source.
- I paraphrased in my own words and kept the meaning accurate (no patchwriting).
- I separated my analysis/opinion from reported facts.
- I followed my course/department rules on AI use and disclosure.
Imago Dei lens
NEXAI is aligned with Imago Dei Nexus: we treat technology as a tool for human dignity, stewardship, and responsible innovation. That means honesty in scholarship, care with data, and accountability for what we publish.
Note: Always follow your lecturer/supervisor guidance and departmental policies for assessments. When unsure, disclose and ask for clarification before submitting work.
The Library AI Toolkit
We teach AI as an evidence workflow, not a shortcut. You will practice how to ask better questions, validate results, and document your process.
- Prompt templates for research and study
- Verification checklist and citation hygiene
- Bias and fairness awareness for academic use
- Data privacy and safe sharing habits
- AI-assisted note synthesis with traceability
- Ethical use and disclosure guidance
Try a safe prompt
Prompt Studio
These templates are designed to reduce hallucinations and keep you in control of accuracy.
Source-first search
Act as a research assistant. Ask me 5 clarifying questions, then propose a search strategy and keywords. Do not invent citations. If you cannot verify a claim, label it as uncertain.Critical summary
Summarize this text in 10 bullet points, then list: (1) what the author assumes, (2) what evidence is missing, (3) 3 questions for further research.Study plan builder
Create a 7-day study plan for this topic with daily goals, practice questions, and a self-check rubric. Keep each day under 45 minutes.Gemma 4 (Docker) console
Run model commands without leaving this page
This panel streams command output from the server so you can pull and verify the ai/gemma4 model inside the same website.
Status: Idle
Required. Set server env: LOCAL_MODEL_COMMANDS_ENABLED=true and LOCAL_MODEL_ADMIN_SECRET.
Output
[idle] Run a command to see output here.
Ready to build your AI literacy with NEXAI?
Join the program, or invite UCU Libraries and Archives to facilitate a session for your class, office, or research group.