Guidelines for using (Gen)AI in studying
iStock-Khanchit Khirisutchalual
Protect your learning process
These guidelines help you use generative AI tools responsibly to support your studies at EPFL while maintaining academic integrity and maximizing your learning. They apply to all generative AI tools that create content based on prompts.
Use AI to strengthen, never replace, your learning process. Using AI to avoid difficult tasks prevents you from learning. The discomfort you feel when struggling with new concepts is a normal and necessary part of learning. Don’t let AI handle the very aspects of tasks you’re meant to master yourself. For instance, if a given assignment aims to teach you proper code syntax, don’t use AI to correct your syntax errors, but work through them manually to build that foundational skill.
Students who rely on AI for exercises and assignments often perform poorly on exams without AI assistance, as they haven’t truly learned the underlying concepts or skills that they were meant to acquire (e.g., Bastani et al., 2024).
Tools
General AI LLM
These large language models (LLM) can generate text, images, videos, code, assist with various tasks, and engage in conversations. Choose the model best suited to your needs.
Graph Chat
On EPFL Graph Search, the network of academic data, use Graph Chat to ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research or news.
AI tutors
To support teaching and learning the Center for Digital Education offers customizable AI-powered chatbots that can be integrated directly into the course website or in the course discussion forum.
How to use AI to learn
The key is using AI to make your own thinking more rigorous and your practice more targeted, rather than letting it think for you.
Use AI to break down complex material into digestible concepts, clarify confusing topics, and explore different explanations until concepts click.
Research consistently shows that active information processing leads to stronger learning (Freeman et al., 2014). AI can serve as your interactive study partner to reinforce your learning through active processing strategies. For example:
- Generating practice problems and quizzes for retrieval practice, one of the most powerful study methods (Donoghue & Hattie, 2021; Dunlosky et al., 2013)
- Role-playing scenarios to help you apply theoretical concepts to real situations
- Exploring application cases of the theories you need to learn
- Simulating discussions, debates, or even mock oral exams to test your knowledge from multiple angles
The success of your studies demands smart organization and proven study techniques (Tormey & Hardebolle, 2017). In addition to the Learning Companion and the MOOC Apprendre à étudier, AI can help you:
- Design personalized study schedules
- Implement effective study strategies tailored to your specific subjects
- Reflect on your learning progress and adjust your approach when needed
How to use AI in coursework
Always check your course’s specific AI policy. If none exists, ask your instructor. You should not use AI during exams or assessments unless explicitly allowed.
Generate initial ideas or starting points. However, make sure to verify, rewrite and reformulate: never use the output as it is!
Get help with the form of your writing; for example, to improve the wording of your text or to shorten a passage that is too long. However, be conscious that these tools are usually too verbose, use very generic language and make shallow arguments. Make sure that the text says what you want it to say! See also the EPFL library recommendations on AI in academic writing.
Get suggestions for what might be causing issues in your code when the debugging itself is not part of the assignment.
You can get rapid formative feedback on drafts, problem-solving approaches, or code quality. Think beforehand what type of feedback would be most helpful for your work and formulate the prompt accordingly.
Enhance brainstorming and peer discussions by including the AI as a virtual partner. Prompting it for alternative perspectives, unconventional approaches, or critical counterarguments can benefit both collaborative learning outcomes.
Find information, analyze literature and summarize content. The EPFL library provides further recommendations and citation rules.
Rules to keep in mind
When using AI to assist with your coursework, you should respect several rules and recommendations. Serious infractions such as plagiarism and unauthorized use in exams can lead to academic misconduct procedures, which may include grade penalties, suspension, or further disciplinary measures.
Transparency
⚠️Rules to keep in mind
EPFL rules (Lex 1.3.3, Article 4) require that all assessment material that is not the student’s personal and original contribution must be recognizable as such. Therefore, the use of AI tools should be disclosed in a statement. Check your course’s specific AI policy or ask your instructor how to formulate this statement. You can also consult with the EPFL library on how to disclose the use of AI for academic writing.
❌ What you should avoid
Submitting AI-generated content as your own work without proper attribution is considered AI plagiarism.
Verification
⚠️Rules to keep in mind
You are responsible for verifying AI-generated content, by checking for unintentional plagiarism and double-checking factual statements with reliable sources.
❌ What you should avoid
AI can produce content that sounds plausible, but is inaccurate or biased. Sometimes it unintentionally plagiarizes existing works. Never use the content without verification.
Data protection
⚠️Rules to keep in mind
Most companies offering generative AI services collect and use your data by default. You should be attentive to their data policies. Use AI tools proposed by EPFL whenever possible.
❌ What you should avoid
You should not provide third-party GenAI tools with information that is private, or which represents intellectual property, or content for which you don’t own copyrights. This includes course slides, syllabi, handbooks, unless specifically authorized by the instructor.
Sustainability
⚠️Rules to keep in mind
The environmental footprint of using AI tools compared to traditional methods can be significant. Before using these tools, carefully weigh how useful they really are for your task.
❌ What you should avoid
You should avoid using AI tools that consume a lot of energy for tasks with little added value, such as generating synthetic images, or even videos, for a presentation.