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We encourage Aalto students to experiment with and learn to use AI in their studies. Use AI in the way most helpful to your situation. Before beginning, however, think about the tools you are using and what information can and may be entered into them.

Study skills go beyond study methods, such as different kinds of reading and memorising techniques: it involves planning, finding ways to motivate yourself, processing the emotions involved in studying, and working on your interaction skills. Study skills are something you can improve: this page contains tips on developing your skills and links to useful materials.

• Try the university's own AI, Aalto AI Assistant, and read your course guidelines regarding how it may be used.
• For practice: Ask AI to give you exercises, problems or multiple-choice questions on the topics you are studying. Use AI for help when needed to put into plain language something difficult to understand.
• To broaden perspectives: Ask AI to challenge your ideas by posing counterarguments; this will expand your understanding and make it more well-rounded. Brainstorm with AI to explore different perspectives on a topic you are currently studying. 
• For organising your studies: Have AI make a to-do list for you, schedules for when to turn in your work, or information search strategies.
• For finishing touches: You can use AI to proofread your writing, condense it, or clarify the terms used.
• Make sure to verify AI-generated information against non-AI sources, for example, with information from textbooks and other course materials.

Remember that large language models are just computer programmes, and therefore they cannot be held responsible for the texts they generate. The responsibility is yours to carefully examine AI content before putting it into your own work. Be prepared to defend or give justifications for the end results. Ethical AI use is based on the fairness, transparency and the source criticism you apply to AI output.

At Aalto, AI is meant to be an aid for studies; it is not a shortcut to learning. You can get the most out of it by using it ethically, critically and transparently.

Risks and restrictions on using GenAI include:

• Hallucinations: Information produced by GenAI may sound convincing, but actually be wildly innacurate containing fabricated citations, incorrect formulas or calculations, erroneous grammatical examples, or non-existent research findings. 

What to do: Perform fact-checking, verify that references are from reliable sources, test the accuracy of any calculations performed, and use library databases to verify research results.

• Distortions: GenAI may reflect biases due to the kind of information in its training data. For instance, historical data may reflect Eurocentrism, medical symptoms may highlight certain populations, or people may be stereotypically depicted.

What to do: Actively seek alternative perspectives and sources, verify information using diverse materials, and include your own contrasting views.

• Copyright: Copying AI generated text without proper citation may be considered plagiarism, the materials used to train an AI model may violate copyright restrictions, and AI-generated content may be too similar to the source material it was trained on.

What to do: Ensure your right to use of the material, follow proper citation practices, and disclose any use of AI in your work, following your course guidelines.

• Data privacy: Do not share confidential data or personal information with an AI model, such as inside information about fellow students, the location of an internshp, or not-yet-published material from your teacher.

What to do: Anonymise data by removing personal identifiers, use only Aalto-approved tools (e.g., Aalto AI Assistant, Microsoft 365 products), and review privacy policies.

• AI performance and environmental impact: AI consumes energy. It can be wasteful to use AI for things you could do more quickly yourself or to have it generate massive amounts of text or images.

What to do: Put clear limits on the scope of your request, ask for a summary before requesting an extensive output, and use lighter versions of AI tools (Aalto AI Assistant allows you to choose the older language model, GPT 4o, to conserve energy).

• You may use AI to support your learning unless otherwise instructed by your teacher. Students are always responsible for the content of the work they turn in. Teachers may restrict the use of AI for certain courses or assignments, depending on the intended learning outcomes. Regarding course assesment criteria, teachers are to clearly communicate restrictions on AI use.
• AI may be used for purposes such as brainstorming and text formatting. AI-generated text may not be presented directly or in unmodified form as your own work. Follow best practices for academic writing.
• Using AI against given guidelines may be considered misconduct and will be responded to in accordance with the procedures in force at the time of the possible misconduct. It is prohibited to use AI for maturity exams.
• Due to copyright and privacy concerns, teachers may only enter student work into systems that are approved by Aalto University.
• If you have questions about the permissible use of AI in a course, do not hesitate to ask your course instructor!
• Read more here:

The Learning Centre offers Aalto-Primo AI, which provides summaries of topics based on international research articles. You can find the summarising funcion in the upper left corner of  There is also Scopus AI, a database of citations and abstracts.