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Guidance for the use of AI in thesis work at the bachelor’s and master’s level

This guidance sets out the requirements for transparent, responsible use of AI in bachelor’s and master’s theses. They apply to the student and all parties involved in the supervision, assessment, and possible investigation of the thesis work. The guidelines will be supplemented and modified as necessary.

The guidance was approved on 10 October 2026 by the decision of the Vice President and enters into effect as follows:
19 October 2026 (start of Period 2): master’s theses whose topic the student has applied for approval on or after this date
1 January 2027: bachelor’s theses started in connection with bachelor’s seminars that begin on or after this date (Period 3)
1 August 2027 (start of academic year 2027–2028): all theses submitted on or after this date must contain the AI disclosure statement.

Introduction

This guidance governs the transparent and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications and tools in bachelor’s and master’s theses. The guidance is addressed to everyone involved in thesis work, including

students who are writing bachelor’s or master’s theses;
all thesis advisors, supervisors, seminar teachers and language teachers who are involved in guiding the students’ writing;
all thesis advisors, supervisors, language teachers, examiners or other approving authorities who assess or approve the students’ theses; and
any investigators involved in handling cases of suspected misconduct.

This guidance focuses on general-purpose large language models, but it also applies to all AI- based and machine-learning-based applications and tools that a student might use, including AI-based qualitative research tools.

The use of AI at Aalto University is governed by Guidance for the use of AI in teaching and learning at Aalto University [1] as well as the Aalto University Code of Academic Integrity in Studies [2]. ln addition to the university guidelines, the use of AI in teaching and learning is guided by the recommendations of the Finnish National Agency for Education [3], the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK [4] and the European Commission [5]. The latter documents, although primarily aimed at teachers, contain useful information for students as well.

General principles

The student, as the author of the thesis, is solely responsible for the entire content of the thesis, including any material produced with AI assistance. For thesis work done collaboratively, the students who conduct the research and co-write the thesis are the authors responsible. Every thesis must include a disclosure of whether and how AI was used (either a ‘no AI use’ statement or a statement of AI use), and any use of AI must be discussed with and approved beforehand by the thesis supervisor (however, the supervisor may delegate this responsibility to the thesis advisor).

The student must retain sufficient records of how AI was used in the work, and they should be able to provide the records upon request. The level of detail of these records and how they are managed must be discussed with and approved by the supervisor.

AI applications and tools must be used in accordance with the principles of research integrity, and particular attention must be given to data protection and information security [6], as well as to copyright [7] and licensing.

Aalto University recommends using its generative AI tool, Aalto AI Assistant, in accordance with the given guidance [8] whenever generative AI tools are used. Students whose thesis work requires the processing of personal data must follow the applicable guidelines [9].

Any breach of this guidance will be considered a violation of academic integrity and investigated as such [2].

Prohibited use

Using AI in ways that have not been agreed with the supervisor.
Using AI in ways that are not approved by the workplace hosting the thesis work.
Generating text, paragraphs or sections of the thesis without meaningful human authorship or critical analysis.
Misleading or deceptive manipulation, fabrication or falsification of data, text, images, video, audio, or other materials.
Entering confidential, personal, proprietary or otherwise restricted data into external third-party AI tools not approved for such use by Aalto University or by the workplace hosting the thesis.
Any use of AI in maturity tests.
Listing an AI application or tool as an author or co-author of the thesis.

Examples of permitted use (when approved by the supervisor and when the use of AI is disclosed in the thesis)

AI in thesis writing: mechanical assistance that does not affect content, such as spelling and grammar correction, and minor formatting
AI as a part of research methods or artistic practice: computer programming, data analysis, brainstorming, reasoning assistance, generation of material for research or artistic purposes, translation, transcription, etc.
AI as a subject of inquiry: as appropriate when the thesis topic itself concerns AI.

Documentation and disclosure of AI use

Students must include a statement in the thesis describing their use or non-use of AI. If AI is used, the statement of use must include a statement of responsibility in the form: ‘I take full responsibility for the content and production of this thesis.’ If AI was not used at all, the disclosure must explicitly state: ‘No AI tools have been used in the preparation of this thesis.’

A good AI-use statement identifies:

which AI tools were used;
what they were used for (including for help with figures, diagrams, tables or source code) and to what extent;
how AI outputs were checked and sources verified;
which decisions remain the student’s responsibility;
how copyright, data protection and confidentiality were handled.

Additionally, the statement may disclose sustainability measures taken in the work.

Additional information

AI tools approved by Aalto University are listed on the site AI Services [10]. Information on the acceptable use of AI tools is available at AI in Aalto [11]. Additional information for thesis supervisors and students on the AI tools available and which of them are approved for use with confidential data is available at the Aalto IT service desk.

Reference links

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Updated: 23.10.2026
Published: 12.10.2026