At the University of Wisconsin-Madison the AI rules for a dissertation sit with the graduate program. On November 9, 2026 we found no Graduate School rule on AI in theses or dissertations. Two programs have published one. The Cellular and Molecular Biology program allows limited editorial help from AI, requires you to disclose any use, and asks you to consult your PI before you upload unpublished material. The Department of Psychology requires an AI-use statement and a form agreed with your committee before you start on the text.
If your AI statement clearly doesn't cover what you describe elsewhere in your thesis, Esmond points it out.
The Graduate School page on academic policies refers students to program-specific policies in the Guide, and we found no Graduate School text on generative AI in theses when we read it on November 9, 2026. That does not mean no rule exists. It means you look for the rule in your program's Guide page and handbook.
Below are the two program texts we found. Each is that program's rule and does not apply to other programs.
A hypothetical example of a commentYour AI-use statement lists grammar edits only, while the methods chapter credits a tool with suggesting the mixed-effects model. Which version will your committee read first, and does the form you filed at the proposal stage cover the second use?
A first comment on one part of your own draft, right away and without an account.
Get a free previewThe CMB Graduate Program has a page called Guidance on the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) by CMB Students. It covers the preliminary exam and the thesis defense, and states its starting point plainly: “The guiding principle is that generative AI may be used as a tool for communication, but not as a substitute for scientific thinking.”
In practice the program allows grammar and language editing, clarity and readability improvements, and restructuring of text for coherence. It compares those uses to traditional editorial assistance. It excludes AI-generated scientific content you could not produce and defend yourself: ideas, hypotheses, experimental design, data analysis or interpretation, conclusions and references.
Disclosure is required for every use: “Students must disclose any use of AI in the preparation of materials.” The disclosure names the tools and describes how you used them, so the committee can judge whether the use fits the guidance. The program also asks you to be ready to discuss that use with your thesis committee.
On uploads, the CMB text sets a condition before you share anything unpublished: “Students should consult with their PI before uploading unpublished data, manuscripts, grant proposals, or other confidential research materials into AI tools.” It adds that UW-Madison has vetted and contracted several generative AI services. For a CMB student this means a talk with your PI comes before unpublished data or a manuscript goes into any AI tool.
The Department of Psychology placed an Interim AI-Use Policy in its graduate handbook, on the page about the first-year project. It applies to three milestones: the first-year project paper, preliminary exams and the dissertation. If you use generative AI in any way for that work, “they must include an AI-use statement fully describing the ways AI was used in the preparation of the written work”.
The statement has two parts. A checklist covers uses such as analysis code, data visualization code, an outline or paper structure, grammar or style edits, new research ideas, suggestions on design or methods, and literature review. A short narrative then explains in more detail what the tool did.
The timing matters as much as the statement. You discuss your planned use with your committee and fill out the department's AI-Use Form before you begin the text, and again at the final stage. If your plans change along the way, you tell the committee first. The handbook sums up the aim: “the committee members should not be surprised by any uses when they receive the final document(s)”.
| Question | CMB Graduate Program | Psychology |
|---|---|---|
| Which work is covered | Preliminary exam and thesis defense | First-year project paper, preliminary exams, dissertation |
| Agreement before use | Consult your PI before uploading unpublished material | Discuss with your committee and file the AI-Use Form before you start |
| Disclosure | Every use, with tools and purpose | AI-use statement: checklist plus narrative |
| Editorial help | Allowed: grammar, clarity, restructuring | Listed on the checklist; your committee agrees to it |
| Who answers questions | CMB Program Director | Your committee |
The CMB guidance names the consequences. Failing to comply may lead to required revision and resubmission of the work, and may lead to dismissal from the program. It also states that the student is fully responsible for the content and must be able to explain, justify and extend every part of the work without AI tools. The committee's own evaluation of that ability may not rely on AI tools either.
The Psychology handbook page lists no sanctions for the AI policy.
The DoIT guide Generative AI Tools Available at UW-Madison lists the AI tools the university has licensed and the data classes each may receive. Microsoft Copilot Chat and the university's Google AI chat, used with your UW account, are approved for public and internal data. The guide's rule of thumb: unless a service is clearly approved for sensitive or restricted data, assume it may receive public or internal data only.
Whether your own draft counts as university data, and in which class, is not settled by these texts. Ask your advisor before you upload it to Esmond or any tool the university has not approved. In CMB the PI conversation above covers this.
The Graduate School sends students to their program's page in the Guide for program-specific policies. If your program is not one of the two above:
This example is made up. A Psychology student files the AI-Use Form in October for her first-year project and ticks one box: grammar edits. In February she has a tool propose a structure for the discussion section and uses part of it. Under the interim policy, the committee should have heard about that change first, and the final statement should list it under paper structure. Her text may be sound. The gap is between the form, the final statement and what she did.
Esmond evaluates every assignment before you submit. It never writes it.
Esmond is an AI tool that doesn't write for you. If your course doesn't allow any AI tools, don't use Esmond for that work. If you're unsure, ask your instructor or advisor.
Esmond evaluates the content of your draft from within your field and points out factual errors, inconsistencies and blind spots; how Esmond works explains the steps and the sample report shows what you receive. At UW-Madison the program decides. In CMB, consult your PI before you upload the unpublished draft, and disclose the use as the guidance requires. In Psychology, put the use on your AI-Use Form and discuss it with your committee before you start, then list it in the AI-use statement. In other programs, follow the program's text or ask your advisor first. Whether your draft counts as university data under the campus IT rules is not settled, so ask your advisor before you upload it; see whether you can use Esmond for the general question. The University of Wisconsin-Madison has not reviewed or approved Esmond.
We found no Graduate School rule on AI in theses on November 9, 2026. Programs set their own rules; CMB and Psychology are two that have published one.
Yes, the CMB guidance allows grammar and language editing, clarity improvements and restructuring. You must disclose that use, like any other.
The interim policy asks you to discuss planned AI use with your committee and fill out the AI-Use Form before you start, at both the proposal and final stages.
In CMB, consult your PI first; the guidance names unpublished manuscripts and data. In other programs, check the program text or ask your advisor.
Read on November 9, 2026.
Get your paper evaluated before you submit