Top university limits use of AI tools

Fudan University, a top-notch university in Shanghai, has recently issued a regulation on the use of AI tools in writing undergraduate graduation theses, detailing areas where AI is permitted to facilitate research and where AI is banned. The university announced in its regulation that Generative AI and other AI-empowered tools are not allowed to be used in choosing research topics, designing research methods, building algorithms and models, analyzing data, presenting results, discussions and conclusions, or summarizing implications in the thesis-writing process. North China Electric Power University has developed an AI detection system to screen the theses of graduate students, the results of which will be provided to the supervisors and the defense committee as a reference, said Zhang Lei, a staff member of the university's graduate school, in an interview with China Youth Daily. The regulation aims to stress students' role in ensuring the proper use of AI tools in line with research codes of conduct and preserving the originality and academic integrity emphasized in academic research, Fudan University said.