The University of Hong Kong

HKU TALIC guidance requires teachers to clearly communicate acceptable AI use for course activities and assessed assignments. Instructors decide how to integrate AI; institutional tool access does not determine permission for a particular assessment.

HKU Faculty of Law requires students to declare AI use on its assignment cover sheet where a teacher permits it for an assignment; failure to declare is treated as academic misconduct akin to plagiarism.

HKU requires the specific use of GenAI in the research process to be duly documented and acknowledged, in addition to citing human authors of published work. Authors remain responsible for all statements and claims in research outputs.

Students and research assistants should seek supervisor approval for planned research use of GenAI and document the use. Research students should declare and specify such use at thesis submission for examination.

HKU GenAI App and API users who use personal data are responsible for obtaining explicit consent from data subjects, masking data and complying with applicable data-protection governance. Users are strictly advised against sharing PII or confidential University information in web-search-enabled prompts.

HKU allows GenAI for experimentation, data collection and analysis only with documentation, fit-for-purpose and data verification, participant confidentiality and prior consent for disclosure beyond the study, protection of proprietary or agreement-controlled data, and applicable ethics-approved participant information for ultra-realistic generated materials.

Researchers lacking the training to verify algorithms, source code and software tests should not use GenAI to generate research code; they should collaborate with researchers who can take responsibility for the software and analysis.

HKU permits GenAI-generated research code only with documented and acknowledged use, verification of algorithms and software, and adequate testing that is conducted and reported.

HKU permits GenAI for research ideation and background research only with documentation and acknowledgement, verification of accuracy, fairness and originality, fair representation and citation of primary sources, and protection against inevitable disclosure of patentable inventions.

GenAI enhancement of research figures containing primary data is acceptable only if it does not alter interpretation. AI-generated images or other data should not be misrepresented as experimental data.

In general, HKU does not allow GenAI-generated text or figures that constitute interpretation of research findings. Unavoidable use should be limited in scope, acknowledged and reported.

HKU does not accept use of GenAI in peer review of research outputs or funding applications because of integrity and confidentiality concerns.

GenAI language editing and translation of author-written text are generally acceptable at HKU, subject to review, accuracy and bias checks and publisher acknowledgement rules. Direct or extensive GenAI use in thesis writing without significant human input is not allowed.

HKU TALIC guidance identifies misuse of AI or misrepresentation of AI work as independent creative work as violations of HKU regulations, with referral to the university disciplinary committee. This statement does not establish an automatic sanction.

For HKU Faculty of Law assessed work, an educative response may involve rewriting and resubmission with a penalty. Where this is not appropriate, an academic response may reduce the mark or give zero. Misuse may also be referred as a disciplinary offence; this is not automatic expulsion.