Artificial Intelligence in University Studies: Final Report and Recommendations of Student Compass

Abstract

During the spring of 2026, a discussion event called Student Compass was organized at the University of Turku. Students debated the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in university studies. The goal of the event was to develop recommendations to support the updating of the university’s AI guidelines. Student Compass followed the deliberative mini-public model, in which a group of randomly selected participants receives information, deliberates, and produces recommendations on a relevant topic. Student Compass was carried out as part of the Advancing Digital Democratic Innovation (ADDI) research project and organized by the project’s researchers.

All degree students at the university were invited to take part in Student Compass, and 680 students signed up as volunteers. Out of this group, participants were chosen using random selection, while ensuring faculty representativeness. Ultimately, 470 students participated in the discussions. The participants were split into 86 small groups, in which they engaged in roughly 2 hours of online discussion. Each small group was tasked with developing three recommendations for the university regarding the use of AI in university studies. To support the deliberations, each group was provided with information on AI before and during the small-group discussions. The students worked together to formulate recommendations using a collaborative writing platform. Progress of the discussions was supervised by a trained facilitator, who also made sure that the principles of deliberation were followed.

The groups produced a total of 258 recommendations, the content of which can be summarized in six key messages. First, clear guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence are needed both at the university level and for individual courses. Clear guidelines improve predictability, equality among students, and consistency in the use of AI across all courses. Second, the university should offer training in the use of AI, preferably in the form of a separate course offered by each faculty at the beginning of studies. Training should also be provided to staff. Third, both students and teachers should be open about their use of AI, as transparency is the best way to promote responsible use of AI. Fourth, instruction should be designed so that the use of artificial intelligence does not replace the student’s own thinking. Courses should include in-person interactions as well as AI-free tasks. Fifth, the university should provide students with high-quality, secure AI tools. Finally, the environmental impacts of AI use should be considered, and criticism of sources and respect for copyright need to be kept in mind. Allegations of misconduct in studies should not be based solely on the results of AI detection tools.