It depends on your school and your committee. Some graduate schools treat generative AI as unauthorized help unless your committee allows it. Others require approval in advance and a statement in the final thesis. No single rule covers every program, so the answer that counts is the one your committee gives you, ideally by email.
At the University of Georgia, “the use of generative AI in theses and dissertations is considered unauthorized assistance per the Academic Code of Honesty and is prohibited unless specifically authorized by members of the advisory committee for use within the approved scope.”
Brigham Young University takes a similar position: “generative AI use in graduate education must be approved in advance by the student’s graduate committee (or faculty advisor in programs with that model) and disclosed in the final product.” It adds that “further clarifications or limitations on the use of AI in specific disciplines may also be defined by colleges, schools, departments, or programs”, so a department can be stricter than its graduate school.
The University of South Florida (USF) asks for permission from everyone on the committee: “generative AI can only be used in your ETD with permission from the entire committee.” An ETD is an electronic thesis or dissertation.
These schools are examples, and each can change its policy. Read them as a sample of what a policy can look like, then look up your own.
These policies all involve the committee. Florida International University (FIU) says “All use of AI assisted tools in proposals, theses and dissertations must be fully disclosed to the student’s committee.” They differ on what you report and where it goes.
| School | Who says yes | What you report | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Georgia | Members of the advisory committee | The extent of the use | A statement in the thesis or dissertation |
| Brigham Young | Graduate committee or faculty advisor, in advance | The use of generative AI | The final product |
| South Florida | The entire committee | The model and version, and how you used it | An appendix |
| Florida International | The student and the committee, against field standards | The tools, their purpose and scope, and the parts of the work involved | Preliminary pages of every draft for the committee and of the final manuscript |
"Can I use AI?" gets a vague reply, because the honest answer depends on the task. Name the tool and the task, and ask how you should report it. The tasks below raise different questions, so ask about the ones you plan to do.
| Task | What to ask your committee |
|---|---|
| Exploring topics or finding search terms | Is this allowed, and does it need a line in your statement? |
| Summarizing an article you will cite | Do they expect you to read the original as well? Do they want it reported? |
| Analyzing data or suggesting code | Does it go in your methods chapter? FIU says “use of AI tools in data analysis should be included in the Methods section.” |
| Translating your own text | Does your program count this as AI use? Does the translated text still count as your own? |
| Generating sentences for the thesis | Expect the strictest answer here. Ask before you do it, and assume the answer is no until you hear otherwise. |
| Getting comments on a draft | Is outside feedback from a tool allowed at this stage, and do they want it named? |
Disclosure is hard to reconstruct months later, so keep records as you go. FIU tells graduate students: “Preserve original unedited drafts of your work.” A short log is enough:
USF warns about content that is inaccurate or does not exist, such as a made-up scholarly source, and it makes the student responsible for it. Open every reference a tool gives you. Compare every figure with its source. If you can't find it, leave it out of your thesis.
Esmond evaluates every assignment before you submit. It never writes it.
AI policies differ. Some are about tools that write for you, others cover any AI tool. Some courses don't allow any AI tools; if yours doesn't, don't use Esmond for it.
Esmond is an AI tool, so if your policy covers AI tools in general, it covers Esmond too. Ask your committee, and name it as a tool you used for feedback on your draft. Your committee has the final say, and your thesis stays your own work.
Ask your committee. Georgia's policy prohibits generative AI unless committee members authorize it, so ask whether that includes early ideas. Other schools may draw the line elsewhere.
Having no AI policy doesn't tell you what is acceptable. Your school's academic integrity policy may still cover it, as Georgia's does, and your advisor can tell you how your program reads it. Get the answer by email.
Citing and disclosing are separate questions. A disclosure says you used a tool; a citation points to specific output you rely on. USF asks you to follow citation guidelines and to name the model and version. Check the style guide your program uses.
The policies quoted here cover theses and dissertations alike. Your committee has the final say on both, so ask them directly.
Read on November 3, 2026.
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