AUC's AI policy

At AUC, both students and staff can use AI in their studies. Responsible use of AI is guided by clear rules and expectations to ensure it supports learning while maintaining academic integrity.

AI Tools in Coursework:

Students can choose to use AI tools in their coursework and assignments. If you want to use AI, you are strongly encouraged to use UvA AI Chat. This in-house tool is designed as a safe and transparent alternative to commercial AI applications. All data stays within UvA systems, your queries are anonymised, and academic integrity is protected. UvA AI Chat allows you to experiment with generative AI in a responsible way while learning how this technology can support your studies.

When you use AI to support your learning, always follow the principles for responsible use outlined below to avoid fraud.

Lecturer's Discretion:

Lecturers have the authority to restrict the use of AI tools for specific assessments or activities. Such restrictions must be clearly stated in the course manual. Lecturers are encouraged to explain why and how AI use might interfere with your ability to meet particular learning objectives. UvA AI Chat remains available, but students must still respect any lecturer-imposed restrictions.

Optional use:

Lecturers at AUC cannot make the use of commercially available AI tools mandatory for students. You may opt out of signing up for or using tools not licensed by the UvA, and should be given an alternative way to complete an activity or assessment. UvA AI Chat is exempt from this rule, as it is considered a safe and supported tool for all students.

Grading:

Lecturers are not allowed to use generative AI to grade your assessments. Feedback must come from your lecturer rather than generated by AI tools. Using AI responsibly, including UvA AI Chat, should support your learning and not replace the independent assessment of your work.

When is AI use at AUC considered fraud

AUC recognises that AI tools provide both opportunities and obstacles for learning. When used responsibly, these tools can support the learning process and help you achieve the learning objectives of your course. However, your use of for example generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) can also lead to fraud. The precise definitions of fraud can be found in appendix 2 of Academic Standards & Procedures (AS&P) 2025-2026. Basically, AI-fraud means:

• Making use of Artificial Intelligence tools (e.g., UvA AI Chat, ChatGPT, and others) in such a way that it becomes impossible for your lecturer to correctly assess your knowledge, understanding, and/or skills.
  • Example: You make use of GenAI to develop research questions for a proposal but neglect to inform your teacher in a clear and transparent manner how you prompted AI and what you subsequently did with AI output.  
• Making use of Artificial Intelligence tools (e.g., UvA AI Chat, ChatGPT, and others) when your lecturer has explicitly forbidden their use in an assignment, assessment or exam.
  • Example: The lecturer provides you with an assignment to compose a research proposal and wants you to learn how to formulate a strong research question. The course manual explicitly states that you cannot use AI for this assignment, because you must learn the academic skill of developing a strong research question independently. If you still choose to use AI, this is defined as fraud.

When your lecturer suspects unauthorised use of GenAI by students, they must always report this to AUC’s Board of Examiners for further investigation.

Tips for responsible AI use

What it means to use AI-tools responsibly will differ from course to course, and depend on what your lecturer wants you to learn (and how they want you to learn!). It is always a good idea to discuss responsible AI use with your lecturer. In general, the following tips designed by the Advanced Research Writing course coordinators provide useful guidelines:

• Use (generative) AI technology to support your writing, in ways similar to how you use internet search engines, grammar and spell checkers, and (online) dictionaries and thesauruses.
• Use generative AI as a source of information and to generate content. Use tools as assistants, not as authors of your work. Generative AI can perform and can even take over certain tasks for you, but you should remain in charge of the overall writing and thinking processes at all times. This means you need to use generative AI critically and responsibly. Do not take over information generated by generative AI tools unthinkingly. And do not incorporate generated output into your text immediately and without acknowledgments. In short, be smart, not lazy.
• If you use generative AI tools, you must provide full transparency about you use them. When you use generative AI to brainstorm ideas, to grammar-check, style-check, and/or enhance your writing, to generate content (including outlines, larger sections of text, or bibliographies), or any other uses, you should explain your approach clearly and in sufficient detail. You can do so, for instance, in an explanatory footnote or as part of a methodology section. It is also possible to save and provide your lecturer with full access to your chat history for a project.
• Treat output generated by AI similar to other sources of information you use in your academic work. When you incorporate information presented to you by a chatbot, you must summarise, paraphrase, and/or quote it, attribute it clearly and provide a correct citation. Any form of literal copying and pasting without full source attribution is considered fraud. This includes paraphrasing quotes generated by GenAI and presenting these as your own work.
• Familiarise yourself with the advantages, disadvantages and potential risks of using AI, including ethical & sustainability concerns.

AI literacy at AUC

AI has a significant environment footprint due to the energy consumed by large language models. In addition, (ethical) concerns have been raised about how AI tools are developed and training, and about privacy and data security. Researchers are also investigating the impact of AI use on learning and, for example, on the development of your critical thinking skills.

AUC is focusing on enhancing AI literacy of both students and lecturers. Several Academic Core courses already contain AI-components to teach students about the possibilities and limitations of AI, about when AI use might be helpful or unsuitable, and about sustainability and ethics.

Of course, AI is not a replacement for independent thinking, writing, or research. We teach you to use AI responsibly to support your learning, not to undermine it. Working independently, thinking critically and, for example, distinguishing fact from fiction remain key skills.

In coming years, AUC’s curriculum will enhance such components to ensure all students are well-prepared for professional life after graduation, in which AI will inevitably play a role. Lecturers are supported in enhancing the AI-robustness of their courses and understanding the impact of AI on pedagogy and assessment, through a variety of workshops and trainings.

Further Reading

UvA TLC Science has developed an e-module on responsible AI use for students: