Your university does NOT have clear AI policies yet. Here is how to use AI without jeopardizing your defense

[Duckduck]

I surveyed 5 universities. Zero have definitive, granular policies on generative AI for dissertations .

The Gray Area:

• Red Line: Generating entire paragraphs of results/discussion and copy-pasting.
• Green Light: Brainstorming counterarguments. Summarizing dense papers (then verifying). Debugging code. Improving sentence flow in your own writing.
• Debated: AI-generated literature reviews. Is it synthesis or plagiarism laundering?

My Rule: If you wouldn't put your name on it as the sole author, don't put it in your dissertation. The tool is an assistant. You are the principal investigator.

Disclosure Statement: Include one. "I used [Tool] for [specific purpose: editing, code debugging, idea generation]. All analysis and final text are my own." Transparency > perfection.

 

[Neiza]

I'd add one more "green light" to your list: translating difficult passages in languages you don't read fluently. I work with some German sources and my reading comprehension is okay but slow. AI helps me get the gist quickly, and then I can go to the original with better context. That feels different from having AI generate new text.

Also—your disclosure statement idea is gold. I've started adding a footnote in papers: "The author used [tool] to assist with editing and to generate code for data visualization. All analysis and interpretation are original." It covers me without making it weird.

Thanks for posting this!