genai policy

This is an evolving document, for obvious reasons. But it reflects our thoughts as of August, 2026.

As a lab, we value the parts of the research process that require us to engage critically with our respective subjects. Brainstorming, writing, and comprehension of relevant topics are some of the most important skills needed for contributing novel ideas to any field. We believe that GenAI interferes with these crucial stages of the research process and opt out of using it for writing, brainstorming, developing methodologies, and any task that requires diligent human thought.

We also understand that these technologies can be extremely helpful in other stages of the research process. Regardless of field, there exists mundane tasks that must be done but don’t build the skills necessary to be an effective researcher. It is in these situations that use of GenAI is suggested.

In general, we are cautious when using GenAI tools. We encourage careful discretion when using generative tools and clear documentation of how and when these tools are used during the research process. We recognize that GenAI can generate incorrect but plausible responses and always review responses for accuracy.

Below you can find some permitted and prohibited use cases:

Example uses we feel like we’re generally down with

• Debugging
• Formatting for certain venues
• Revision / Robustness of approach (e.g. am I violating statistical assumptions with the model I am making use of)
• Plot generation/exploratory tools
• Finding potentially useful papers*
• Image generation for slides?

Example uses we think are less productive in the short or long term

• Drafting papers
• Ideating
• Slide creation (although animation using GenAI is OK, generating your conclusion slide, e.g., is not)
• Anything anyone else is going to read or watch carefully … i.e. don’t waste people’s time with GenAI content when they think they’re getting your content.

*Sources and citations should always be manually verified