1. Purpose

This policy sets out WNU expectations for responsible, limited and accountable use of artificial intelligence tools during the Summer Institute and other WNU Programmes. It is intended to protect critical thinking, meaningful collaboration, personal accountability and the integrity of Programme learning.

WNU recognises that Participants may use AI tools during the Programme. The purpose of this policy is not to prohibit appropriate support, but to ensure that AI does not replace the thinking, discussion, judgement and participation the Programme is designed to develop.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all Participants and all Programme activities, including plenary sessions, working group sessions, Experiential Learning Activities, simulations, mentor discussions, peer feedback, written reflections, the Innovative Leadership Project, presentations, online platforms and any other Programme-related activity.

It applies to generative AI, chatbots, translation tools, writing assistants, summarisation tools, transcription tools, image generators, research tools and any similar technology.

3. Core Principle

Participants should use AI minimally and intentionally. The central test is whether the AI use helps the Participant participate more fully, or whether it substitutes for the participation itself.

AI may help Participants express, check, organise or test their thinking. It must not generate the thinking for them. The thinking must be the Participant's or the group's before AI touches it.

4. Appropriate AI Use

Participants may use AI tools where they support learning and participation without replacing personal or group engagement. Appropriate uses may include:

• preparing personal thinking before a group discussion or seminar;
• looking up technical references, definitions or background context;
• translating personal ideas into clearer English before speaking or writing;
• drafting or refining a personal reflection after a session that the Participant attended and engaged with fully;
• stress-testing an argument or challenging the Participant's own logic before presenting;
• researching the topic area that an ILP team is working on;
• summarising the Participant's own notes from a session they attended and engaged with fully;
• checking whether written work says what the Participant intended it to say.

5. Language and Accessibility Support

WNU recognises that the Programme is conducted in English and that many Participants work in a second or third language. AI may be used to support language clarity and accessibility, provided that it is helping the Participant express their own thinking.

Appropriate language-support uses may include drafting what the Participant wants to say before a discussion, translating personal notes into English for personal reference, asking AI to suggest clearer phrasing for a point the Participant is struggling to articulate, or checking whether a written reflection expresses the intended meaning.

Language support is not a route for AI to generate substantive arguments, decisions, peer feedback or Programme outputs on behalf of the Participant.

6. Activities Where AI Should Not Be Used

Participants must not use AI where the live experience, group interaction or personal judgement is the point of the activity. AI must not be used to avoid or replace participation in core Programme activities.

Participants must not use AI:

• to generate, draft or structure any part of an ILP proposal, analysis, recommendation or conclusion;
• to write peer, colleague or mentor feedback on their behalf;
• to produce contributions to group discussions that are then presented as the Participant's own thinking;
• to reconstruct or summarise a session the Participant was physically present for but did not meaningfully engage with;
• during the ILP panel presentation or question-and-answer session;
• in any way that prevents the Participant or group from explaining, defending or owning the work presented.

7. Innovative Leadership Project

The Innovative Leadership Project is a centrepiece of applied Programme learning. The senior panel is assessing the team's thinking and collective ability to analyse a complex nuclear industry problem, weigh options and make a strategic case.

AI may be used to research industry context and examples, stress-test logic, improve clarity of a slide or document, check internal consistency, or practise presentation delivery. AI must not generate the team's strategic recommendation, write the team's conclusions, replace team discussion, produce analysis the team has not worked through, or construct arguments that no one in the team owns.

If AI is generating the conclusions, the ILP is not the team's work. WNU may treat this as a Programme integrity concern.

8. Confidentiality, Data and Programme Materials

Participants must not upload, paste, process or otherwise disclose confidential, proprietary, security-sensitive, personal, speaker, host organisation, WNU, WNA, Technical Visit or third-party materials into external AI tools unless WNU has expressly approved that use.

This includes speaker slides, unpublished materials, Programme exercises, case studies, assessment materials, personal information about Fellows or contributors, employer or Sponsor information, host organisation information, Technical Visit information, confidential group discussions and any commercially sensitive or security-sensitive information.

9. Disclosure and Transparency

WNU may ask Participants or groups to explain whether and how AI was used in preparing Programme outputs. Participants are expected to answer accurately and transparently.

Where AI has materially supported research, structuring, drafting, editing or preparation of a submitted or presented output, Participants should disclose this in a proportionate way. Minor grammar, spelling or phrasing support does not normally require detailed disclosure.

A suitable disclosure statement is: "This work used AI tools to support research, drafting, structuring or editing. The final content, judgement and recommendations remain the responsibility of the Participants."

10. Participant Accountability

Participants remain fully responsible for any work, contribution or output produced with AI support. This includes responsibility for accuracy, originality, confidentiality, judgement, sources, relevance, compliance with WNU policies and the ability to explain and defend the content.

AI-generated errors, fabricated references, inappropriate content, confidentiality breaches or generic work that does not reflect Programme learning remain the responsibility of the Participant or group using the tool.

11. Mentor and Programme Team Intervention

Mentors and the Programme Team may intervene where AI use appears to be replacing personal participation, reducing critical thinking, undermining collaboration, creating generic outputs, weakening group ownership, or compromising Programme integrity.

Indicators may include a Participant or group being unable to explain or defend work, fabricated or unverifiable sources, content that does not reflect group discussion, unexplained inconsistency between live contribution and submitted work, or concerns raised by mentors, Fellows, speakers, staff or reviewers.

WNU will not rely solely on AI detection tools when assessing possible misuse. Review will be based on context, evidence, judgement and discussion with those involved.

12. Consequences of Misuse or Overuse

Where WNU considers that AI has been misused or overused, WNU may take action proportionate to the seriousness of the issue. This may include:

• a reminder of expectations;
• discussion with the Participant or group;
• mentor intervention;
• requirement to revise, redo or resubmit work;
• exclusion of affected content from review;
• restriction on presenting certain content;
• notification to the Sponsor or employer;
• finding that the Participant has not met Programme requirements;
• ineligibility for graduation or certificate award;
• action under the Code of Conduct;
• removal from the Programme in serious cases.

No refund will be provided where a Participant is removed from the Programme, becomes ineligible to graduate, or is otherwise sanctioned due to misuse or overuse of AI, except where WNU decides otherwise at its sole discretion.

13. Relationship with Guidance

WNU may issue Programme-specific guidance on AI use, including examples of appropriate and inappropriate use. Such guidance supports this policy and may be used by WNU, mentors and Participants when interpreting and applying this policy.

14. Review and Modification

This policy is subject to periodic review and may be updated by WNU where required for legal, operational, safeguarding, safety, security, academic, technological or Programme quality reasons. Any material changes affecting current Participants will be communicated promptly.