Generative artificial intelligence at the University

Can I use generative AI in my work?  

• You can use generative AI as long as you do so in accordance with the University’s principles of AI use and you pay attention to data protection in the same way you would in any cloud service. 
  • If you use AI in teaching, please refer to the instructions for AI in teaching.  
  • If you use AI in your studies, please refer to the guidelines on AI use for students. 
• Please note that if you use data generated by artificial intelligence in your work, you are responsible for the accuracy of the results.  
• If you use services not provided by the University, you are doing so as a private individual. In this case, pay special attention to the service’s terms of use and data protection. Do not use any work documents as AI input. Please acquaint yourself with the section on using artificial intelligence services external to the University of Helsinki.

Is it safe to use generative AI?  

• In principle, yes. However, please note the following: 
  • As a rule, generative AI services are cloud services. The user is responsible for ensuring that no sensitive data, data subject to the GDPR, licensed data or other data unsuitable for cloud services are processed in the service (see 6.6 Data protection and information security principles for cloud services). 
  • Generative AIs “hallucinate” and are unable to stick to facts alone. If you use data generated by artificial intelligence in your studies, teaching or work, you are responsible for checking the accuracy of the AI-generated data. 
  • The University recommends CurreChat as the primary option. If you use commercial cloud services, you are doing so as a private individual. See the section on using artificial intelligence services external to the University of Helsinki.

How can I start using ChatGPT/generative AI? 

• All University of Helsinki employees can use CurreChat (https://curre.helsinki.fi/chat), which gives access to the GPT4 and GPT3.5 language models. You have limited monthly access to ChatGPT4. After reaching this limit, you can continue to use GPT3.5 without any limit.
• If you want to use generative AI in teaching, please complete the form available at https://curre.helsinki.fi
• As a rule, students do not have access to the CurreChat service, unless the teacher has specifically requested the tool’s use in their course.  

Please contact IT Helpdesk in questions related to generative AI. 

Is it safe to use CurreChat?

The University of Helsinki recommends CurreChat as the primary option.

• CurreChat uses the GPT4 and GPT3.5 language models that work in the Microsoft Azure cloud environment. These language models are located in the EU. All text entered in the CurreChat service is forwarded to these language models for a response, but no data are stored in the systems or used, for example, to further train the language models. No identifying information of the user (such as the username) is transmitted to the language model. CurreChat administrators cannot see the conversations carried out in the service.
• Please note that CurreChat is a cloud service. It can be used to process open, public and internal data as described in the University’s Information Security Policy (see 6.6 Data protection and information security principles for cloud services) but not confidential or secret data.

How can I use AI to create images? Does the University have a service for creating images?

• The University of Helsinki does not offer generative AI for creating images. At the moment, the only way to create AI images is to use a service outside the University. Popular proven services include Bing Image Creator and Leonardo.ai, which are free of charge at their basic level, as well as Midjourney, which comes with a fee. However, please note that the University does not support or recommend the use of these services, and you cannot use material such as your work documents as input.
•  If you are considering these services, please see the section on using artificial intelligence services external to the University of Helsinki.

Can I use artificial intelligence services external to the University of Helsinki?

• Numerous generative AI services for different purposes are currently available online, including ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Google Gemini, Midjourney and Leonardo AI. The University of Helsinki does not support or recommend the use of external AI services in University-related work, but you can test them as a private individual. As a rule, well-known services are safe to use, as long as you pay attention to the following:
  • You must register for the services and accept their terms of use as a private individual. 
  • Read the terms of use carefully. They indicate, for example, the price of the service, who owns the rights to the outputs, whether the outputs can be used in studies or work, and what right the service provider has to utilise your input or the data you generate. Please note that the service provider may have the right to store and utilise all your inputs, for example, to teach the AI model.
  • Do not use any work-related material, licensed material (such as educational material or articles), personal data or sensitive data as input for external AI. Materials that are entirely public and open, and whose licence does not prevent their use are an exception to this.

Does the University have any generative AI services other than CurreChat?

• Yes! The University has a language model-based machine translation service called Kontra, which is available at https://translate.helsinki.fi. Kontra can translate text and PowerPoint files between English, Swedish and Finnish. The service is limited to the University of Helsinki network and requires a VPN connection. As the Kontra service is located in the University of Helsinki’s own data centre, it can also be used to safely translate work documents.

The following links provide self-study material on the topic:

• Elements of AI MOOC
• AI study modules at the University of Helsinki
• Artificial Intelligence collection
  Most courses are held in English, so we recommend that you read more on the English-language pages.

• Artificial intelligence in teaching (Instructions for teaching)
• Using AI to support learning (Instructions for students)