School of Business and Governance Guidelines for using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in teaching and studies

General guidelines

1. The School of Business and Governance encourages the use of technologies based on artificial intelligence in studies to support learning and teaching and to develop students’ learning and work skills. When using artificial intelligence, it is essential to focus on purposefulness, ethics, transparency, and a critical approach.
2. When using applications of artificial intelligence, students must adhere to the regulations and guidelines of both Tallinn University of Technology and the School of Business and Governance.
3. In the context of their course, lecturers have the right to decide how to use artificial intelligence or, if necessary, limit its use. Guidelines can be described in the extended syllabus and in the assessment criteria for graduation theses. If guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence are not provided in the extended syllabus or in the assessment criteria for graduation theses, then its use will be considered as an auxiliary tool.
4. When designing their syllabus/assessment criteria, lecturers must ensure that students do not find themselves in an unequal situation. This means that students cannot be required to purchase licenses for artificial intelligence-based systems.
5. For written assignments, the method of using artificial intelligence must be described, and it should be referenced correctly. Presenting content created by artificial intelligence under one’s own name is considered academic fraud.
6. Without explicit consent from an individual, no one else should input their personal data into artificial intelligence systems.

The use of artificial intelligence in graduation theses

1. When preparing their graduation thesis, students must consider that the author is fully responsible for the accuracy and quality of all information, research material, and analysis results presented in the work, as well as the correctness of citations. The use of artificial intelligence applications as an aid at various stages of thesis preparation is not prohibited. However, it is important to bear in mind text generated by artificial intelligence must not be presented in one’s thesis (and generally in any academic text) as one’s own personal thoughts. 
2. Artificial intelligence-based applications that do not create new content, but process already composed text (including translation programs, e.g., Google Translate; text correctors, e.g., Grammarly; reference management tools, etc.) may be used as supportive tools, and there is no need to reference these applications.
3. Artificial intelligence applications can be used, for example, as a source of inspiration, as tools for evaluating and refining one’s thoughts and ideas, for translation, and to support learning in the early stages of work. Additionally, artificial intelligence applications can assist in editing the student’s created text during the finalization stage of the work. However, artificial intelligence applications must not be used for extensive composition of the thesis text (e.g., creating a chapter), fabricating analysed data, or composing substantive discussions.
4. Using artificial intelligence applications to gain an overview of a topic or to summarize information from different (foreign language) sources is not prohibited. However, the student must verify the content and existence of the original sources of the text presented in the thesis, and proper referencing to these sources must be provided in the end.
5. When using content created by artificial intelligence in the thesis, the same rules apply as with any other source. Content generated by an artificial intelligence application may, under justified circumstances and following proper citation rules, be quoted, or paraphrased in a small volume. Content created by an artificial intelligence application cannot be presented under one’s own name without proper referencing – in such cases, it constitutes plagiarism. When referencing the use of artificial intelligence applications, two situations must be distinguished:
   1. When the application is used as a tool (for text editing or translation, creating worksheets, composing tests, gathering ideas), referencing is not necessary.
   2. When the output from the application is used in a substantive manner (a text snippet provided by a text robot, an image created by an image generator), the application used must be referenced.
6. If artificial intelligence is used to compose parts of the thesis with substantive significance, the methodology chapter must explain the use of artificial intelligence. For instance, it should describe how a text robot was used as an aid in composing text (example 1) or what substantive information was obtained from the text robot, including the questions asked, the output received from the text robot, and to what extent it was modified (example 2). Based on the description of the use of the artificial intelligence application, it must be unequivocally clear in what extent and in what manner it has been applied in the work.
   1. Example 1: During the process of composing the thesis, Microsoft Copilot’s text robot was used to receive feedback on the structure of the work and its content chapters.
   2. Example 2: The following definition is based on Microsoft Copilot’s response dated March 28, 2024, to the question “What is a language model?”. The result was as follows: “[—]” (Microsoft, 2024).
7. When referencing the use of an artificial intelligence application within the text, it is recommended to refer to it as personal communication (example 3), as the artificial intelligence application is not a published source, but a model based on statistical correlations, providing different responses depending on the context of the interaction.
   1. Example 3: In the thesis, I used the artificial intelligence-based text robot, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft, personal communication, March 28, 2024), to generate ideas for improving customer service.
8. In the list of references, the creator of the artificial intelligence language model, the year of the model version, the specific application and its version, the type or description of the language model, and the web address of the application must be specified. For example, a reference in APA style could be formatted as follows:
   1. Microsoft. (2024). Microsoft Copilot (March 3 version) [large language model]. https://copilot.microsoft.com/
   2. OpenAI. (2022). ChatGPT (Dec 20 version) [large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/

Some activities where the use of artificial intelligence applications is generally permitted in theses.

1. Asking for recommendations to find relevant sources, to expand the literature review.
2. Finding synonyms for key terms or search keywords.
3. Asking for additional explanations to understand complex concepts or theories.
4. Summarizing lengthy texts to get an initial overview, but it should not be presented as one’s own text.
5. Translating text (or parts of text).
6. Instructions for simplifying or clarifying statistical methods, data visualization techniques, or interpreting results.
7. Editing one’s own written text (e.g., shortening sentences, eliminating word repetitions, etc.).
8. Formatting and refining various parts of the thesis.
9. Refining the structure of the thesis, adjusting the distribution of structural sections.

The guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence in the School of Business and Governance have been prepared based on the following references:

Guidance for the use of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning at Aalto University
https://www.aalto.fi/en/services/guidance-for-the-use-of-artificial-intelligence-in-teaching-and-learning-at-aalto-university

University of Tartu guidelines for using AI chatbots for teaching and studies
https://ut.ee/et/sisu/tartu-ulikooli-suunis-tekstiroboti-kasutamiseks-oppetoos

Artificial Intelligence Guidelines from Ministry of Education and Research
https://www.hm.ee/sites/default/files/documents/2024-03/Tehisaru%20juhend%202024.pdf