CHAI - Contextual Honor Codes for AI literacy and Academic Integrity

The rapid growth of (Gen)AI is reshaping how students learn and how teachers design and assess learning. While policies such as the EU AI Act and institutional guidelines at THUAS offer valuable direction, they remain intentionally broad to ensure they are flexible enough for different programmes and teaching practices. As a result, many concrete questions about (Gen)AI use are left to individual courses and programmes to interpret. 
At the same time, students and educators often enter these discussions with very different levels of experience, confidence, and expectations regarding GenAI. Most existing initiatives address them separately, which means opportunities for shared understanding and collaborative decision‑making are limited.

CHAI – Contextual Honor Codes for AI literacy and Academic Integrity

The CHAI project is grounded in the principle of informed choice, which brings together its two core pillars: AI regulation and shared AI literacy.

The focus on AI regulation addresses the need to translate broad institutional and legal guidelines into practical, context‑relevant agreements, i.e. honor codes. Through structured dialogue, students and teachers collaboratively determine when, how, and why GenAI should-or should not be used in their own programmes. These agreements are then formalized in honor codes, wherein future educational activities are organized across increasing levels of AI involvement (from No AI to Full AI); framing the group’s shared understanding of what constitutes fair AI use in that context. 

Equally important is the development of shared AI literacy. Because students and educators often come to GenAI with very different levels of familiarity, expectations, and needs, CHAI brings them together to build a common understanding of what GenAI tools can and cannot do. This is why in addition to the customizable honor code template, students and teachers also receive a supplementary information package about the capabilities, limitations, risks and potential of GenAI. 

Project Timeline and Development

The project is funded by AI HUB and began in the last quadrant of 2025. The methodology was piloted with two programmes at THUAS: one at Public Administration (February 2026) and another at International Business (May 2026). Based on the insights from these pilots, the methodology has been refined and translated into a practical implementation toolkit for broader use within THUAS. The project was carried out with the support of three research groups: Learning Technology & Analytics, Multilevel Regulation and Sustainable Talent Development.

CHAI Implementation Toolkit 

The CHAI Implementation Toolkit is a step-by-step guide for teachers who want to run a CHAI session in their own course. It can be applied flexibly, from a single assignment to an entire course, and covers the full cycle: preparing the session, guiding the in-class voting and discussion, and drafting the final honor code. The toolkit also includes a structured process for reaching agreement when opinions differ, illustrated with classroom examples, and the customizable Honor Code template itself.

Download the CHAI Implementation Toolkit here.

Contact

We are interested in hearing any feedback, questions or ideas for collaboration that you may have. Teachers at THUAS who would like support in running a CHAI session in their course are welcome to contact senior researcher Manika Garg at [email protected]