Generative AI 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 on AI use for teachers.  
  • If you use AI in your studies, please refer to the instructions on AI use for students. 
  • If you use AI in your research, please refer to the instructions on AI use for researchers.
• Please note that if you use data generated by artificial intelligence in your work, you are responsible for the accuracy of the results.  
• Please also note that if you provide the AI with source material, on the basis of which the AI generates one or more outputs, you must hold the necessary rights to that source material for this purpose.
• 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. 
  • We recommend primarily using AI services supported by the University, such as Copilot Chat and CurreChat.
  • 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 generative AI? 

• If you are a University of Helsinki student or staff member over the age of 18, you have free access to the Microsoft Copilot Chat service. You can use the service to create text and images using the AI models currently offered by Microsoft. Read the instructions and privacy policy of the service before you start using it. 
  • Read more in the instructions for using Copilot at the University of Helsinki. 
  • The Copilot service is available at https://copilot.cloud.microsoft.
     
• If you are a University of Helsinki staff member and you are planning to use generative artificial intelligence in teaching, you can also use the University’s own CurreChat. In CurreChat, you can create text using the AI models currently offered, but the tool cannot generate images. 
  • Read more about CurreChat on IT Helpdesk’s page. 
  • The CurreChat service is available at https://curre.helsinki.fi/chat.
     
• 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?

• CurreChat uses 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 conducted 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?

• You can create images in Copilot Chat. Read more about the service and about creating images in the IT Helpdesk instructions.
• In addition, there are a number of commercial image generation services for consumers. 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 consumer services, please see the section on using artificial intelligence services external to the University of Helsinki.
• Please also bear in mind copyright protection when creating images using artificial intelligence. Images produced by artificial intelligence are not protected by copyright, but they may infringe the copyright of other works, if, for example, they are copies or adaptations of a work covered by copyright or imitate the style of a living artist. 

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

• Numerous generative AI services for different purposes are currently available online, including ChatGPT, 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. In such cases, the protection of company data provided in the university’s contract does not apply.
  • 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 or in marketing.
  • 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. Please note that even materials under an open licence (e.g. those licensed under Creative Commons) must not be fed into an AI system if the material is to be used to train AI models.

Does the University have any other generative AI services apart from Copilot Chat and 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.
• University staff also have access to Microsoft Copilot, an AI service that is more comprehensive than Copilot Chat and utilises the user’s own documents within the Microsoft 365 environment and works in conjunction with Microsoft’s office applications. A licence for Microsoft Copilot is subject to a charge and requires approval from a supervisor or other authorising party.

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
  As most courses are held in English, we recommend that you read more on the English-language pages.

• Artificial intelligence in research (Helsinki.fi)
• Artificial intelligence in teaching (Instructions for teaching)
• Using AI to support learning (Instructions for students) 
• Artificial Intelligence and Information Management at the University (Information management, AI roadmap, use of AI, development of AI capabilities and AI services, as well as AI-related organisation at the University, Flamma, in Finnish)
• AI services in use at the University (Flamma, in Finnish)
• Development of AI capabilities at the university (Flamma, in Finnish)
• Policy for the use and development of AI (Flamma)
• Procurement of AI services and software (Flamma)

See also

• Captioning and transcription landing page on the Helpdesk’s instructions site