The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has released Pakistan’s first draft policy on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education, proposing strict rules to prevent students from misusing AI in academic work while encouraging its responsible use in teaching, learning, and research.
Under the proposed framework, universities across Pakistan will be required to develop their own institutional AI policies, clearly outlining where AI tools are permitted, restricted, or prohibited. Rather than imposing a complete ban, the policy focuses on transparency, ethical use, and academic integrity.
A key provision of the draft policy prohibits students from using AI to generate assignments, dissertations, or theses and submitting them as their own original work. Students and researchers will also be required to disclose whenever AI has been used in academic work by identifying the AI tool and explaining how it was used.
The HEC has also proposed that AI cannot be listed as the author of any research paper or academic publication, reinforcing that researchers remain fully responsible for the accuracy and originality of their work.
To prepare students for the growing role of AI, the commission has directed universities to integrate AI literacy into their curricula within the next two years. Institutions will also be required to conduct annual AI training programs for faculty members, students, and administrative staff, while every course outline must specify the acceptable use of AI from the beginning of the semester.
The framework allows faculty members to use AI for educational purposes, including tutoring, quiz generation, writing assistance, course design, and research support. Researchers may also use AI for literature reviews, translation, language editing, reference checking, and developing research questions, provided that all AI-generated content, facts, and references are independently verified by humans.
The draft policy classifies fabricated references, fake research, invented data, and AI-generated false findings as serious academic misconduct. It also warns that using AI to hide plagiarism, rewrite copied content to evade detection, or cheat during examinations will result in disciplinary action.
However, the HEC has clarified that students cannot be penalized solely based on the results of AI detection software, recognizing the limitations of such tools.
To ensure effective implementation, universities will be required to establish dedicated AI committees responsible for monitoring compliance, handling complaints, overseeing policy enforcement, and submitting annual reports to the HEC on AI usage, violations, training initiatives, and policy developments.
