DUSA Executives have been using AI for some posts on social media.
Two posts have been labled as AI content by instagram and have either been reposted by the DUSA account, or the DUSA account has been added as a contributor.
The most notable AI posts are “10 Things Every Dundee Student Should Know” and the “Legal Recruitment Fair”. Both posts have been labelled as AI content on Instagram.
The post seen above has many signs of AI creation, from the excessive amounts of emojis to the random bar chart at the bottom right of each slide.
Ironically, both labelled AI posts came after the DUSA Executive had posted a statement on Turnitin using student work to train and develop AI.
In the statement, the DUSA Executive said Turnitin’s changes “raised questions around student consent, ownership of academic work” and that “students deserve to know what happens to the work they submit”. I agree with the DUSA Executive here. But the AI tools used to generate these posts will have already taken people’s work, often without consent.
After a request for comment on the AI usage, Tom Christison, DUSA President, said the following:
“The ‘10 Things Every Dundee Student Should Know’ and ‘Legal Recruitment Fair’ posts were created using Canva, utilising AI-assisted design features.”
Tom went on to mention the Instagram labels and said that “it is worth highlighting that these are not always a reliable indication of how a graphic has been produced”, saying that Canva can just add metadata to posts that results in them being flagged as AI even when “the extent of AI involvement may be limited or non-existent”.
My counter to this, which was found with a simple Google search, is that Instagram labels posts as AI through metadata in the images. Anyone can click on the post from DUSA and see the post was labelled as AI because of the following:
“This is based on a signal added by the tool used to create the content. This signal typically identifies content that was entirely AI-generated instead of content that was only modified with AI.”
I also know that Canva doesn’t simply add metadata to images on a whim. At The Jute Journal, we have been using Canva for a good six months, and not once have we had an AI label.
Tom does go on to clarify how social media posts are made, saying that:
“We absolutely agree that student creativity should be supported, encouraged and valued. DUSA employs paid student graphic designers, including students studying at DJCAD, to produce content for our social media channels.
“Where our student designers do not have the capacity to cover every post, staff and Executive Officers also create graphics using programmes such as Adobe and Canva.”
While Tom recognised the use of AI tools, he finished the email saying: “Ultimately, we want DUSA to be an organisation that champions student creativity, values the work of student designers and makes responsible decisions about the tools it uses.”
DUSA doesn’t have to use AI for social media posts, and it shouldn’t.
DUSA has survived without the need to use AI for decades. While budget cuts may lead to some designers and social media staff having to leave, there is still no need to turn to AI.
Sadly, I don’t think there is any “responsible” use of AI tools. It is hypocritical for DUSA to oppose the changes to Turnitin using student work to train AI, and then use AI instead of student work?
DUSA full statement:
The full statement from Tom Christison, the DUSA President, is as follows:
“We absolutely agree that student creativity should be supported, encouraged and valued. DUSA employs paid student graphic designers, including students studying at DJCAD, to produce content for our social media channels. Where our student designers do not have the capacity to cover every post, staff and Executive Officers also create graphics using programmes such as Adobe and Canva.
“Regarding the examples you mentioned, the “This is your SRC” post was designed in Photoshop by one of our paid student graphic designers, who is currently studying Graphic Design at DJCAD. The “10 Things Every Dundee Student Should Know” and “Legal Recruitment Fair” posts were created by Ramya using Canva, utilising AI-assisted design features.
“On the subject of Instagram’s AI labels, it is worth highlighting that these are not always a reliable indication of how a graphic has been produced. We have noticed labels appearing on older posts created before generative AI tools became widely available. Design platforms such as Canva can also include metadata that results in content being flagged as AI-generated, even where the extent of AI involvement may be limited or non-existent.
“Regarding Turnitin, the Executive has signed an open letter opposing the proposed changes to Turnitin’s User Agreement, particularly the implications for students’ intellectual property and the potential use of their academic work to train AI systems. We continue to monitor developments and seek reassurances from the University on how students’ work will be protected.
“Ultimately, we want DUSA to be an organisation that champions student creativity, values the work of student designers and makes responsible decisions about the tools it uses.”