Sciences Po bans the use of ChatGPT without transparent referencing

Paris, January 27th 2023 - Last November, the company Open AI made its artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbot available to the general public.

In an email addressed to all students and faculty from Provost Sergei Guriev, Sciences Po’s senior management team announced a ban on the use of ChatGPT, and all other AI-based tools, at Sciences Po. Without transparent referencing, students are forbidden to use the software for the production of any written work or presentations, except for specific course purposes, with the supervision of a course leader. The sanctions for use of the software may go as far as exclusion from the institution, or even from French higher education as a whole.

The ChatGPT software is raising important questions for educators and researchers all around the world, with regards to fraud in general, and particularly plagiarism. Sciences Po is committed to maintaining the quality and integrity of its programmes and degrees. To that end, Articles 12 and 13 of the university’s Academic Regulations and the Anti-Plagiarism Charter provide a framework for protecting intellectual property. This framework constitutes the sole basis for all individual and group academic work, whether written or oral.

As an institution that encourages debate and the healthy exchange of ideas, Sciences Po is dedicated to opening up discussion around the subjects driving public debate. This year, Sciences Po is launching the "Transforming Interdisciplinary Education and Research for Evolving Democracies" (TIERED) project, which was awarded a grant as part of the French government's Investments for the Future Programme (PIA4). As part of the project, the university will be hosting a conference on the future of education and research, in an ecosystem within which AI is playing an increasingly significant role.

About Sciences Po

Founded around values of openness and excellence, Sciences Po is a selective research university of international standing whose unique model associates a specialization in social sciences and humanities and a multidisciplinarity and a professional anchoring to train actors that can understand and transform society.

PR contacts :

Romain Becker & Camille Kress : media@sciencespo.fr / +33 1 45 49 50 79