AI Policy: AI-DocShort v1

The use of AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, Gemini, etc.) is generally permitted in this course as an aid to support the learning process. However, the specific regulations of this policy regarding permitted and prohibited use, labeling, and academic integrity apply.

In this course, you should develop or deepen the following basic AI-related competencies:

• Critically evaluating AI-generated content for accuracy, relevance, and potential biases.
• Effectively formulating requests (prompts) to achieve precise and helpful results.
• Reflective use of AI tools as a complement to your own thinking and to support learning processes.
• Transparent and correct documentation of AI use in an academic context according to the guidelines.

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 permitted, provided they are transparently and traceably labeled according to the guidelines of this policy:

• Support with brainstorming, structuring, and outlining written work, homework, or presentations.
• Help with linguistic revision and improvement of your own texts (beyond mere spelling/grammar correction, e.g., style, phrasing suggestions).
• Generating examples, analogies, or alternative explanatory approaches to illustrate your own arguments.
• Brainstorming possible arguments, counterarguments, or perspectives for an analysis.
• Support with literature research (e.g., suggestions for search terms, summarizing abstracts, searching for sources with "Deep Research" functions of AI tools).
• Generation of code snippets or debugging assistance (if relevant to the subject).
• Creation of visualizations and graphics to support presentations or written work (e.g., through tools for automatic visualization of data or concepts).
• Transcription and summarization of audio/video sources.

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

• Submitting AI-generated content as your own work without adequate labeling – this may be considered an attempt to deceive.
• Use of AI during supervised examinations (exams, etc.), unless expressly permitted by the examination regulations or the instructor – this may be considered an attempt to deceive.
• Using AI to circumvent learning objectives that explicitly require independent critical thinking, creative problem-solving, analytical skills, or specific methodological competencies.
• Uploading copyrighted course materials or personal data to cloud-based AI systems without explicit permission (see Section 3).

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.

The teaching materials provided in this course (slides, scripts, assignments, etc.) are protected by copyright. You are not permitted to upload these materials or substantial parts thereof to external cloud-based AI services (such as ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, Gemini, etc.) or enter them there for analysis or processing.

Label the use of AI systems in written submissions as follows:

At the end of your work (before the bibliography), add a separate section with the heading "Declaration on the Use of AI Tools". There, briefly list:

• Which AI tools you used (e.g., "ChatGPT, DeepL Write, Copilot").
• For which work steps you used them (e.g., "brainstorming", "linguistic revision of introduction", "literature research keywords", "code generation for function X").

Additionally, the declaration of independent work according to the guidelines of your examination regulations may need to be submitted.

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.

We are aware that the use of AI in unsupervised assessments (e.g., term papers) is difficult to control and may compromise fairness and equal opportunity. To ensure a valid assessment of your individual competencies, the following measures are applied in this course:

• Written submissions are supplemented by a short oral colloquium to verify understanding and independent work.
• Assignments are designed to focus on transfer and critical analysis, not mere knowledge reproduction.
• Compliance with the labeling requirement (tool + purpose) is considered in the assessment.

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.