China’s Tsinghua University has released its first comprehensive framework governing the use of artificial intelligence in teaching and academic research, marking a major step in how one of China’s top universities adapts to the rapid rise of generative AI in classrooms and labs.

The “Tsinghua University Guiding Principles for the Application of Artificial Intelligence in Education” set out systematic, multi-level norms for faculty, students, and researchers as AI tools become increasingly embedded in learning and idea generation.

The document is divided into three parts — General Provisions, Teaching and Learning, and Theses, Dissertations, and Practical Achievements — offering detailed, scenario-based rules for everything from course design to graduate research.

The General Provisions outline five core principles: responsibility, compliance and integrity, data security, prudence and critical thinking, and fairness and inclusiveness. AI must remain an auxiliary tool, the guidelines say, with teachers and students driving learning. Proper disclosure of AI use is mandatory, misuse is prohibited, and the university warns against cognitive complacency, urging multi-source verification to counter AI-generated errors. The document also stresses the need to address algorithmic bias and prevent widening digital divides.

In the Teaching and Learning section, instructors are asked to define AI’s role in each course, explain the rules at the semester’s start, and take responsibility for any AI-generated materials they use. Students may employ AI as a learning aid, but copying or mechanically rephrasing AI output for assignments is banned.

Under Theses, Dissertations, and Practical Achievements, AI cannot replace academic training or independent intellectual work. Ghostwriting, plagiarism, fabrication, and other forms of misconduct are explicitly prohibited. Advisors must guide appropriate AI use and maintain oversight to ensure originality and academic integrity.