Artificial Intelligence Use (VII.A.5)

Volume VII: Information Technology
Chapter A: Acceptable Use
Responsible Executive: Chief Information Officer and Vice President for Information Technology, and Provost
Responsible Office: Office of the Vice President for Information Technology
Date Issued: November 1, 2025
Date Last Revised: N/A

Contacts
Statement of Policy
Reason for This Policy
Individuals and Entities Affected
Exclusions
Responsibilities
Definitions (defined terms are capitalized throughout the document)
Related Documents, Forms and Tools
Website Address for This Policy
History and Updates
Appendix

Contacts

Policy Clarification

Purdue Systems Security
765-494-4000 | itpolicyanswers@purdue.edu

Statement of Policy

Responsible use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and Large Language Models (LLM), collectively referred to as AI in this policy, is essential to the University’s ongoing mission.

AI tools and the university data used with them are IT Resources and Information Assets, respectively, as defined within and subject to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources and Information Assets (VII.A.4) (Acceptable Use) policy. As such, usage must not violate any local, state or federal law or regulation or any university policy, standard or procedure, including without limitation to the Information Security and Privacy (VII.B.8) policy.

The responsible use of approved AI tools and technologies is authorized subject to the following requirements:

Sensitive and Restricted Data, as defined in the Acceptable Use policy, must not be entered into AI tools without prior approval. Usage cases include training or testing AI tools. Approval requires that:
- The tool is approved for Sensitive and/or Restricted Data use as applicable per the approved AI tools list, and
- The usage case for the tool is approved by the Data Ethics Committee.
AI tool development and implementation processes must follow the Data Ethics Committee’s guidance.
AI may be used to inform decision makers, but it must not be the sole factor used in making personnel, award or disciplinary decisions.
Unit heads are responsible for determining the extent to which AI may be used to inform decision-makers in their respective areas.
Provost guidelines provide guidance for academic and classroom usage.
Prior to sharing and publishing, always review and ensure AI output is accurate, appropriately cited, does not contain Restricted Data, including personally identifiable information (PII), without Data Ethics Committee approval, and minimizes bias or misinformation.

A New IT Solutions and Services Review is required for use of any AI tools, whether developed externally or internally, not already on the approved AI tools list.

Usage authorization review by the Data Ethics Committee is initiated by completion of a Data Ethics Committee Use Case Review.

In the event any non-public data is uploaded to an AI tool without prior approval of the system or usage case, the user(s) must immediately report the incident. Prompt reporting ensures timely investigation, containment and remediation of potential threats to Purdue University data.

Reason for This Policy

As an education and research institution, Purdue University supports responsible, measured experimentation with and use of new technologies. AI solutions have potential to increase productivity and allow the University to create new value for the world. However, caution must be used, as information entered into AI tools for which an appropriate agreement has not been established may become the property of the tool provider and be used in training its services or shared directly with others. Responsible use of AI is essential to maintaining academic integrity, data security and institutional standards.

Individuals and Entities Affected

All Purdue persons, departments, units, contractors, consultants and campuses using AI.

Exclusions

There are no exclusions to this policy.

Responsibilities

University Faculty, Staff, Students and Any Parties with Access to University Data and AI Tools

Use AI in compliance with this policy.
Complete applicable training on appropriate use of AI as required by Purdue IT.

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Oversee ongoing implementation of this policy.

Purdue Systems Security

Process New IT Solutions and Services Reviews.
Process policy exceptions.
Implement monitoring to identify and remediate policy violations.

Data Ethics Committee

Guide the ethical and responsible use of Purdue University data.
- Ensure appropriate legal agreements are in place with third-party AI tools to protect the University’s Information Assets.
- Ensure any approved AI tool put into use follows Purdue’s AI Guiding Principles.
Provide recommendations on policy changes regarding the use of AI at Purdue.
Consider potential reputational harm from the implementation of Purdue-facing AI tools.
Review and approve enterprise-level training modules on appropriate use of AI.

University-Authorized Technicians or Administrators

With appropriate authorization, take directed action in accordance with this policy to preserve, protect and promote the interests of the University.
Ensure all associated procedures are followed when taking any actions outlined in this policy.

Definitions

All defined terms are capitalized throughout the document. Refer to the central Policy Glossary for additional defined terms.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)
The class of AI models that emulate the structure and characteristics of input data to generate derived synthetic content. This can include images, videos, audio, text and other digital content.

Large Language Models (LLM)
The class of AI models that uses machine learning to understand and generate human language, trained on vast amounts of text data to recognize, summarize, translate, predict and generate content.

Restricted Data
See definition in the Acceptable Use of IT Resources and Information Assets (VII.A.4) policy.

Sensitive Data
See definition in the Acceptable Use of IT Resources and Information Assets (VII.A.4) policy.

AI at Purdue University – includes list of approved AI tools

Data Ethics Committee information

Guidance on the Use of AI in Teaching and Learning

Policies, Standards and Procedures: