USask has practical guidance for how principles may be applied in four common roles at USask. Though we recognize that many people at USask hold multiple roles, the guidelines below have specific guidance and resources tailored to the act of teaching, learning, research and administration on campus.

• Educators
• Researchers
• Students
• Administrators

The principles are descriptions of USask intentions for, and beliefs about, the use of AI. They include 4 categories:

• Ethical and Responsible Use
• Literacy
• Tool Use
• Change and Innovation

Ethical and Responsible Use

1. Accountable. The intentional choices and actions of humans lead our AI use and the implementation and management of AI. Humans are accountable for content they create with AI. Our administrative, educational, and research uses of AI emphasize the enhancement of human well-being and dignity and aim to support and enhance human capabilities.
2. Inclusive. We respect diverse local and Indigenous knowledges in our use of AI by drawing on individuals with varied cultural, disciplinary, and experiential backgrounds to inform our understanding and shape our approach. We emphasize authentic collaboration amongst individuals with diverse perspectives in decision making related to AI infrastructure and use.
3. Equitable. Because AI can produce content that is inaccurate and reflects bias inherent in its training data, USask users of AI take deliberate action to limit the amplification and/or reinforcement of social and academic inequalities in their use of content produced by AI.
4. Responsible. We strive to uphold equity and human rights in AI infrastructure decision making. We aim to uphold USask’s responsibilities in ecological stewardship in the ways we procure, build, and maintain AI infrastructure.

Literacy

5. Literate. We provide support for AI literacy development ensuring faculty, staff and students have opportunity for effective and ongoing preparation to use AI ethically and appropriately in teaching and learning, research, and administration. USask users of AI have a responsibility to engage in learning about responsible, ethical and appropriate use in their context.
6. Accessible. AI applications that USask provides, endorses, and supports (e.g., to produce text and images, to provide tutorial supports, to process applications, etc.) are deployed in ways that facilitate equitable access for faculty, staff and student users. We identify and implement AI applications that all faculty, staff, and students can easily use.

Tool Use

7. Transparent. AI applications that USask provides, endorses, and supports are used openly, and use is tracked to improve effectiveness and efficiency and alignment with these principles.
8. Compliant. We use AI in ways that comply with USask policy, practices and legal requirements and the terms of use of the applications. AI applications that we build will be trained on reliable, relevant, and ethically sourced data.
9. Secure. AI use at USask will uphold rigorous privacy and security standards. We ensure steadfast compliance with legal and ethical frameworks in the AI applications USask provides, endorses and supports.

Change and Innovation

10. Innovative. All members of the USask community strive for responsible use of AI applications to enhance learning and discovery. We recognize that innovation in the use of AI involves making space for experimentation fueled by creativity and curiosity and that there will be innovations, challenges, and mistakes along the way. Errors and insights that result from experimentation will be used as opportunities for growth.
11. Evolving. The journey of AI integration is a continuous learning process requiring patience and open-mindedness. We actively seek feedback from members of the USask community as part of monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness and impact of the use of AI related to institutional priorities and the changing landscape of AI technology. We evolve these principles and guidelines and our use based on the outcomes.

The principles and guidelines have been developed by an interdisciplinary task force established by the Provost and Vice-President Academic. The terms of reference for this task force can be viewed below:

• AI Taskforce Terms of Reference

• Guide for Understanding Generative AI
• Guidance on Academic Integrity and Generative AI
• Overview of Generative AI in teaching
• Approved AI tools for Teaching and Learning
• Student self-study tutorial for academic integrity, including Generative AI use
• Writing Centre Guide to Generative AI Tools for students