Georgia Tech

Interim - Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Academic & Research Contexts

• 发布单位Publishing unit Georgia Tech Policy Library, Office of Provost / Research
• 官方来源Official source https://policylibrary.gatech.edu/artificial-intelligence-ai-academic-research-contexts
• 页面日期Page date Effective June 2026; review December 2026

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Reason for Policy

The growing availability and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are providing new opportunities for teaching, learning, research, administrative, and related activities. Georgia Tech recognizes AI as a catalyst for innovation, productivity, and creativity, and is committed to enabling responsible access to these tools. As these new capabilities become available, Georgia Tech faculty, researchers, staff, students, affiliates, and units (“GT community members” hereinafter) must understand how to utilize AI in an ethical, responsible, and secure manner.

Policy Statement

This policy governs the use of AI in Academic and Research Contexts.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to a technology family that enables computers to perform a variety of advanced functions, including the ability to process visual cues, understand and translate spoken and written language, analyze data, and make recommendations from heuristic analyses. This includes, but is not limited to, Generative AI (GenAI), Large Language Models (LLMs), and Machine Learning (ML).

AI Tools refer to any software, platform, device, or cloud service – whether Institute-licensed, open-source, embedded within another product, or publicly accessible on the web – whose core functionality relies on an AI system as defined above.

2.1 Guiding Ethical Principles and Safeguards

This policy is guided by the following ethical principles and safeguards:

Accountability

Safeguarding Protected Data

Human Oversight and Safety

Safeguards against Hallucination

Fairness and Bias Mitigation

Transparency

Accessibility

Protection against Prompt Injection Attacks

GT community members who employ AI tools in academic and research contexts must act in a manner consistent with these guiding ethical principles, including measures to reduce the risk of misleading or adversarial outputs.

2.2 Responsible Use and Accountability

Within this policy and related procedures, Georgia Tech maintains a standard for responsible AI use in academic and research contexts. Because AI use can implicate additional Georgia Tech policies and procedures, GT community members must read this policy in concert with all other relevant policies, including but not limited to the

Academic Honor Code

,

Faculty Handbook

, AI in Administrative and Employment Contexts, and the various information technology policies

.

2.2.1 Accessing AI Tools

For work in academic and research contexts, GT community members should use AI tools that are either an (1) Institutionally Approved AI Tool or a (2) Limited Use AI Tool as designated by a Local AI Point of Contact.^{机构工具Institutional tools} GT community members can find approved tools (https://oit.gatech.edu/governance/ai/) and the process for requesting tool approval may be found (https://oit.gatech.edu/governance/ai/).

Please note that use of an approved AI tool must remain within its approved scope and for its intended, approved purpose.

A student’s use of free or personally licensed AI Tools in academic and research contexts must be consistent with this policy and accompanying guidance. Institute review, approval, and inclusion in the Institute or a Local AI Registry are not required for a student’s personal use of free or personally licensed AI Tools with their own data.

2.2.2 Safeguarding Protected Data and Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

Consistent with other Georgia Tech policies and legal requirements, GT community members should safeguard any information that includes personally identifiable information (PII) or is categorized by the Institute as Protected Data.

GT community members must not submit any data categorized by the Institute as Protected Data or any data including personally identifiable information (PII) that can directly or indirectly identify another individual^{数据与隐私Data & privacy} (for example, the combination of major, GPA, and academic term) into an AI tool unless it is an approved scope for an approved AI Tool.

Even when using institutionally approved tools, GT community members must adequately safeguard this data from improper disclosure. Further discussion of safeguarding protected data and personally identifiable information (PII) may be found in the Guidance on the Use of AI in Academic and Research Contexts.

2.2.3 Respecting Intellectual Property (IP) and Regulatory Requirements

GT community members are responsible for complying with Georgia Tech AI policies and their accompanying guidance. Failure to do so could result in violation of contractual obligations, others’ IP rights, and regulatory requirements.^{知识产权IP & copyright}

2.2.4 Verifying the Accuracy After AI Use

GT community members should verify the accuracy of information generated by AI tools before using or relying on the information because AI output can be inaccurate, biased, hallucinated, or contain copyrighted material.

GT community members are responsible for the accuracy of any information they use or publish that includes AI-generated material.^{摘录Excerpt核实责任Verification duty}

Guidance on methods to verify AI-generated material for accuracy is addressed in the accompanying Guidance on the Use of AI in Academic and Research Contexts (to be linked).

2.2.5 Disclosure of AI Use

GT community members using AI tools in their academic, scholarly, and research products may need to disclose that AI has been used in their creation. The magnitude of the AI use and significance of the work product are factors to determine the necessity and appropriateness of a disclosure. GT community members should not create the impression that output generated by AI tools is their own. GT community members should cite any quotations, paraphrasing, or ideas derived from AI tools.^{披露要求Disclosure} Failing to do so may be considered a violation of the

Academic Honor Code or another’s IP rights, or it may be considered scientific or scholarly misconduct^{违规定性Integrity framing}

. Disclosure is discussed more fully in the accompanying Guidance for the Use of AI in Academic and Research Contexts.

For more information on academic integrity, GT community members should refer to the

Academic Honor Code and resources maintained by the

Office of Student Integrity

.

For more information on research integrity, GT community members should refer to the Faculty Handbook provisions governing

Scientific or Scholarly Misconduct and resources for the responsible conduct of research maintained by the

Office of Research Integrity Assurance and the

Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Education

.

2.2.6 AI in Academic Instruction

The Center for Teaching and Learning provides guidance and sample language to support instructors in communicating expectations regarding AI use. Instructors should provide students with clear guidance about permissible and impermissible uses of AI in their courses and assignments. Instructors should refer to Section VI.I.1 of the current Georgia Tech Catalog for requirements regarding syllabus content describing acceptable student conduct as it relates to the use of AI. Before instructors may use AI outputs to inform grades, provide formal feedback, or create any official record, instructors should use Human Oversight to verify the appropriateness and correctness of the use.

2.2.7 AI in Research Practices and Scholarly Communication

GT community members should use independent Human Oversight and validation appropriate to the discipline and context in their research when using any AI Tools.

GT community members should verify any AI outputs before they inform research processes or data analysis.

GT community members and their teams should use the Guidance on the Use of AI in Academic and Research Contexts (to be linked) to inform the use and disclosure of AI contributions to research. GT researchers must also comply with applicable funder and publisher policies relevant to the work.

GT community members should not create the impression that output generated by AI tools is their own. Accordingly. GT community members should appropriately disclose the use of AI to produce or substantively inform Scholarly Communications consistent with the Guidance on the Use of AI in Academic and Research Contexts and applicable funder and publisher policies relevant to the work.

2.3 Data Protection and Privacy

In addition to the provisions noted above in section 2.2.2, GT community members using AI in Academic and Research Contexts must comply with applicable laws, regulations, and Institute policies governing student and institutional information. Collection, use, storage, and transmission of such information in connection with AI must be authorized and limited to the purposes of instruction or research. Additional information about data privacy at Georgia Tech may be found on the pages for

Data Governance and

Privacy

.

2.5.1 Unit Oversight, Accountability, and AI Points of Contact

Each Executive Sponsor and Dean must designate one or more Local AI Points of Contact for their division, college, or library. School chairs, vice provosts, and other unit leaders may also designate one or more Local AI Points of Contact to support their unit, or utilize the support network provided by the unit to which they report.

Local AI Points of Contact serve as a support network and local liaisons to help GT community members navigate the Institute's AI requirements. For faculty and researchers, these contacts act as a resource to assist in evaluating proposed AI tools in accordance with the AI Tool Approval Standard. They help determine whether a tool can be quickly approved locally as a Limited Use AI Tool, or if its proposed academic use requires routing for an enterprise-level Institute review.

The formal authorization, registration, and administrative management of AI Tools by Local AI Points of Contact are governed by the AI in Administrative and Employment Contexts Policy.

Scope

This policy governs the use of AI in Academic and Research Contexts by all Georgia Tech faculty, researchers, staff, students, affiliates, and units in the performance of any activity within academic and research contexts for or on behalf of Georgia Tech.

This policy governs the use of AI in Academic and Research Contexts, covering all teaching, learning, research, scholarly, and related activities.

Additional policies and procedures documents – including, but not limited to, the Student Code of Conduct, Academic Integrity Policy, and Faculty Handbook – may also address permissible uses of AI.

This policy is supported by additional related Institute Standards, Specifications, and Procedures, including the accompanying Guidance on the Use of AI in Academic and Research Contexts. If there is a conflict, this policy will be the authoritative source.

Policy Terms

Academic and Research Contexts

Academic and research work, including but not limited to teaching, learning, coursework, assessment, laboratory or field research, research data analysis, and preparation of scholarly communications

AI Tool

AI Tools refer to any software, platform, device, or cloud service – whether Institute-licensed, open-source, embedded within another product, or publicly accessible on the web – whose core functionality relies on an AI system

Human Oversight

Independent human judgement that is applied to review and validate AI outputs before acceptance

Prompt Injection Attack

A type of cyberattack that crafts inputs that cause an AI Tool to override intended instructions or controls, produce misleading outputs, or disclose information inappropriately

Institute AI Register

The Institute system of record for Institutionally Approved AI Tools

Institutionally Approved AI Tool

An AI Tool approved by the AI Governance Committee and listed on the Institute AI Register

Limited Use AI Tool

An AI Tool reviewed and approved by a Local AI Point of Contact based on the requirements established by the AI Tool Approval Standard and the guiding ethical principles outlined in Section 2.1.

Local AI Register

A local system of record for Limited Use AI Tools

Scholarly Communications

Scholarly communications may include, among other things, communications such as literature reviews, grant proposals, conference proceedings, manuscripts, theses/dissertations, and related writing prepared for submission, delivery, or publication

Protected Data

A data protection categorization where information is generally not available to parties outside of the Georgia Tech community. This is the default data protection categorization for Organizational Data. A Protected Data categorization does not always mean that the data contained therein is confidential or non-disclosable and such data may by subject to disclosure under the Georgia Open Records Act or other applicable laws and regulations. For more information, see the Data Governance and Management Policy (https://policylibrary.gatech.edu/information-technology/data-governance-and-management-policy).

Procedures

This Policy is supported by additional related Institute guidelines, standards, and supporting artifacts, including the accompanying Guidance on the Use of AI in Academic and Research Contexts. If there is a conflict, this Policy will be the authoritative source.

Responsibilities

Academic Domain: The Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and designated college and school leaders provide academic direction and ensure policy-aligned implementation in Academic and Research Contexts. Academic colleges designate a college-level AI point of contact; schools, departments, and units may designate their own points of contact or adopt the college point of contact.

AI Governance Committee: Provides strategic guidance, direction, and sponsorship for Institute AI governance; designates the AI Governance Officer.

AI Governance Officer: Leads the enterprise AI Governance Program; serves as the Institute point of coordination for AI governance and convenes designees of the Executive Sponsors to align decisions across Academic and Research Domains.

AI Governance Program: Coordinates AI governance across the Institute, including coordination with the Academic and Research Domains.

Colleges, Schools, Departments, and Research Centers: Implement discipline-specific guidance; designate required Points of Contact; and may adopt additional local requirements for AI use within their unit but they are not permitted to exempt GT community members from Institute AI provisions^{课程规则优先Instructor override}.

Executive Sponsors: The Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs (Provost & EVPAA); the Executive Vice President for Research (EVPR); and the Executive Vice President for Administration and Finance (EVPAF) provide strategic oversight for this policy, designate Academic and Research Domain point of contacts, and provide the resources necessary to support and sustain the AI Governance Program.

Instructors and Principal Investigators: Set assignment- and project-level expectations for AI use in their courses and research teams; apply Human Oversight before accepting AI outputs where required by this policy; follow the Guidance on the Use of AI in Academic and Research Contexts with respect to research and Scholarly Communications

, and act in accordance with all other relevant policies, including but not limited to the

Academic Honor Code

,

Faculty Handbook

, and the various information technology policies

.

Local AI Point of Contacts: Serve as a support network and local liaisons to help GT community members navigate the Institute's AI requirements, and assist in evaluating proposed AI tools in accordance with the AI Tool Approval Standard.

Research Domain: The Executive Vice President for Research and designated research leaders provide research direction and ensure policy-aligned implementation for research; and the Office of the EVPR designates research Points of Contact appropriate to its portfolio.

Students, Faculty, Researchers, Affiliates, and Staff: Follow course, project, and unit rules established under this policy, apply the Guidance on the Use of AI in Academic and Research Contexts where applicable, and act in accordance with all other relevant policies, including but not limited to the

Academic Honor Code

,

Faculty Handbook

, and related data privacy policies

.

Enforcement

Georgia Tech, the University System of Georgia, and/or the State of Georgia may periodically audit compliance with this policy.

To report suspected instances of noncompliance with this policy, please contact the AI Governance Program at aigovernance@gatech.edu

.

For information on how to report academic misconduct, refer to the Office of Student Integrity’s

Academic Misconduct Process webpage.

For information on reporting research misconduct, refer to the Office of Research Integrity Assurance’s

Reporting Violations webpage.