AI Policy: AI-Defend v1

The use of AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, Gemini, etc.) is permitted without restrictions in this course – both for learning and for creating submissions. Labeling of AI use is not required. Competence is demonstrated through a defense of the submitted work.

The following types of AI use are permitted as personal learning aids and do not need to be specifically labeled:

• Use for individual exam preparation (e.g., creating practice questions, summaries of your own notes, flashcards).
• Generating explanations of concepts or technical terms for your own understanding.
• Translating foreign language texts (e.g., academic articles) for your own understanding.
• Use in explicitly designated practice phases during the course (when guided by the instructor).
• Spell and grammar checking through standard software (e.g., in Word).
• Support with formatting and citation styles for written assignments.

The following types of AI use are expressly not permitted in this course:

• Use of AI during supervised examinations (written exams, etc.), unless explicitly permitted – this may be treated as an attempt at deception.
• Use of AI to circumvent learning objectives that explicitly require independent critical thinking or specific methodological competencies.
• Uploading copyrighted course materials or personal data to cloud-based AI systems without explicit permission.

When using AI services, observe data protection:

• Do not enter any personal data (e.g., names, student IDs, email addresses, discussion contributions) into external AI tools (neither your own nor those of other students or instructors).
• Be aware that many cloud-based AI services store your inputs and potentially use them to train their models.
• Where possible, use more privacy-friendly alternatives such as AI services provided by your university or AI models running locally on your computer, if possible.

Most course materials provided in this course are copyrighted. For the following, explicitly released materials, processing by AI services is permitted under conditions:

• Materials marked with the note "AI use permitted" in the learning management system.

All other materials may not be uploaded to AI services.

To maintain equal opportunity, this course does not assume that you have access to paid AI premium services. The learning objectives of the course can be achieved in the following ways:

• Using free basic versions of common AI providers (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini).
• AI services provided by your university, if available.

AI tools may be used without restrictions for creating submissions. Individual competence is demonstrated through a defense:

• Submitted work is defended in an oral examination. It will be verified whether the content and argumentation can be independently represented.
• The oral defense is a significant factor in the overall assessment.
• Those who cannot convincingly represent their submitted work must expect a significantly lower grade.

AI systems make mistakes. Do not blindly rely on AI-generated information. Pay particular attention to:

• Factual errors ("hallucinations"): The AI invents facts, data, or events that sound plausible but are wrong.
• Invented sources: The AI cites sources (books, articles) that do not exist or whose content is incorrectly represented.
• Outdated knowledge: The AI's training data is not always current. Information may be outdated.
• Incomplete or one-sided presentation: Important aspects, perspectives, or counterarguments may be missing.
• Bias: The AI can reproduce unconscious biases from the training data.

• Verify central statements and facts using scientific sources (e.g., academic literature, databases).
• Verify citations and source references – does the source really exist? Is the statement accurate?
• Compare the answers of different AI tools or actively search for opposing positions.
• Be particularly skeptical of very specific or surprising statements.

If you have questions or uncertainties about the use of AI in this course or about the interpretation of this policy, please feel free to contact me:

• During my office hours
• By email or in the course forum
• During the course (we will schedule time for discussions).

• Your university's information resources on AI in teaching.
• Your university's didactic advisory services.

The instructors conducting this course also use AI tools, for example to create materials or support communication. In doing so, we always ensure compliance with data protection and copyright, as well as critical review of AI results.

We assure you that work you submit, personal data, or discussion contributions will not be uploaded to or entered into external, cloud-based AI systems by us for analysis.

When assessing examination performances (e.g., exams, term papers, presentations) that count toward your final grade, we do not use AI tools. Assessment is carried out exclusively by human examiners.