How to use generative AI responsibly

In this text, we explain what you need to bear in mind when using AI tools in your studies at Lund University. We base this on the University’s general AI policy, but please note that your own programme may have a more specific policy that you must also follow.

Lund University’s AI policy in full (in Swedish) – as a PDF

Focus on learning

Practise using GenAI tools in a way that supports your learning. Generative AI can be a great help in getting started or moving forward if you’re struggling to write or are stuck for ideas. For example, you can get suggestions for content – or feedback on your drafts. You can use AI to get an initial answer or explanation that you can explore further. You can also ask GenAI to summarise texts as a first step in the reading process or to determine whether a text is even relevant to the task at hand.

But remember that GenAI should be used as inspiration or assistance in the process, never as a substitute for your own studying. Learning requires effort, and it is when you actively work with material yourself, with or without AI support, that you truly learn.

AI tools also consume a lot of energy, which means they can have a significant environmental impact. Bear this in mind when planning your use of AI, and use the tools when they actually benefit or enhance your learning, not just out of habit or due to a lack of time.

If you’d like to learn more about how to use AI to support your learning, there’s the online course “A student’s guide to GenAI and learning” on the Coursera platform. The course is free, but you’ll need to create a Coursera account to access it.

Be open with your teachers

You should be open about when, how and why you use generative AI in your studies. Feel free to ask your teachers right at the start of a course or programme whether and how AI can be used to support your studies – if this isn’t already clear from the course materials.

If you wish to use GenAI for a compulsory assignment or in an examination, you must always double-check with the teacher whether it is permitted and, if so, how you should report its use.

Even if it is not clearly stated in the course materials that GenAI is prohibited, it may still be considered cheating if you make it appear as though you have created something yourself that a GenAI tool has generated for you. If you submit something you have not written yourself or if you fail to clearly reference the correct sources, it is considered plagiarism. Plagiarism is prohibited and may result in you being suspended from your studies.

Always critically evaluate AI

You are always responsible for the material you produce and disseminate, even if you have used AI in the process. You can never shift the blame onto AI, as AI is not a human being and therefore cannot take responsibility. This means that you should always critically evaluate AI-generated material.

Firstly, texts generated using AI are not always factually correct. The tools do not always have access to accurate information and, moreover, do not hesitate to ‘lie’ if they do not ‘know’ the answer. This is often referred to as AI ‘hallucinating’, but it is really just how they work – they find patterns in large amounts of text and prioritise what sounds plausible over what is true.

You should therefore not use GenAI as a search tool, and you must always double-check the information you receive against other sources if you want to be sure it is correct. By analysing and verifying the answers, you’ll also become better at understanding what kind of help you can get from these tools.

Secondly, you cannot trust that the material generated by AI is ethically sound. AI sometimes generates material that, for example, reinforces stereotypes or is offensive. It is your responsibility to ensure that the material you create using AI does not discriminate against anyone or breach other ethical guidelines.

Protect your privacy and that of others

To get the most out of GenAI, you often need to provide detailed prompts, i.e. enter questions, instructions or text in a way that helps GenAI respond effectively. It is therefore important to be aware that whatever you input is shared with the company behind the tool.

When studying, you should primarily use the tools for which Lund University holds licences. As a student at Lund University, you can use Microsoft Copilot Chat and Google Gemini by logging in with your student account. Read more about how this works on our tools pages.

AI tools

However, even if you are logged in with your student account, you must never upload, for example, other students’ work, sensitive personal data or copyright-protected material – this applies to text as well as images, audio or video. If you are unsure whether it is acceptable to input something, you should always refrain from doing so.