Generative AI and studies
AI tools can help you generate text, create images, analyse data, summarise documents, and more. The collective term for these types of tools is generative AI, or genAI for short.
Why use generative AI?
GenAI can be a valuable support in your studies – helping you to understand difficult concepts, structure your work, or move forward when you get stuck.
GenAI is already part of many professional contexts. A better understanding of generative AI reduces the risk of inappropriate or unauthorised use. To develop your skills and increase your future employability, you need to use genAI in a reflective way that supports your learning. You should:
- understand how genAI works and what its limitations are
- critically evaluate genAI-generated material
- know when genAI is helpful – and when to refrain from using it.
Responsible use of generative AI
Guidelines
Uppsala University has central, comprehensive guidelines on the use of generative AI in teaching and assessment. For each course, the following applies:
- The examiner may limit the use of AI.
- Any restriction on the use of AI must be justifiable with respect to the intended learning outcomes, the nature of the task, or the pedagogy.
- It must be clearly stated in the course whether and how AI use is to be reported.
- As a student, you are responsible for any generated content and for staying up to date with guidelines for generative AI.
Local guidelines may exist for a specific course or department.
Protect your own and others’ privacy
When using AI tools, you should be careful not to enter sensitive or confidential information. For example, to protect sensitive personal information, you can replace the names of people in your text with “Person 1”, “Person 2”, and so on. This also applies to other private information such as personal identity numbers, addresses, registration numbers, etc. Read more about AI and the application of the GDPR at the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (in Swedish).
Common misconceptions about AI
Using AI is cheating.
– No. GenAI can be used to support your learning. What is allowed depends on the course structure and the form of examination.
Teachers or the University can see my chats in Copilot.
– No. When you log in with your student account, your use is covered by the university's agreement – neither teachers nor Microsoft can see your chats. They are also not used to train AI models.
AI is so bad for the environment that I should not use it at all.
– Training AI models is energy-intensive, but daily use is becoming increasingly efficient. At the same time, AI competence is an important component of your future professional life. Reasonable and conscious use is therefore preferable to complete abstention.
Free AI tool
Students at Uppsala University have free access to the AI tool Copilot. Log in with your student account in the same way you log in to other Microsoft services.
Prohibited use of AI
Sometimes it is difficult to know where to draw the line between permissible and prohibited use of generative AI. If there is suspicion of prohibited use of genAI, this can be reported to the Disciplinary Board at Uppsala University, which may lead to sanctions such as suspension. Read more about cheating and plagiarism.
Contact
If you have any questions about the use of generative AI in your course, please contact your teacher.