Principles for the responsible use of AI in FINEEC’s audits of HEIs

FINEEC has adopted principles for the responsible use of artificial intelligence in audits. The principles apply to FINEEC’s experts and audit teams as well as to HEIs.

1. Responsibility and critical assessment

• AI does not replace human judgement, peer review, or decision-making.
• AI may be used as a supporting tool, for example for structuring text or improving language.
• Representatives of the HEIs, members of the audit teams, and FINEEC experts FINEEC experts must critically assess AI‑generated content and verify AI‑produced content against the original material.
• The content and conclusions of the self-assessment and the audit report must be produced by representative of the HEI, the audit team members, or the FINEEC experts themselves.

2. Confidentiality and data protection

• The use of AI must comply with the GDPR and all regulations concerning confidentiality. FINEEC and the HEI are responsible, within their respective areas, for ensuring that data protection and confidentiality requirements are followed.
• Material generated during the audit process is confidential. Only the final audit report is public. Confidential material must not be uploaded to open AI systems. The HEI holds the rights to its own materials, such as the self-assessment report.
• Non-confidential information may be entered into closed AI systems, where data is encrypted and not used to train language models. When logged into such closed AI services, anonymised interview and workshop data may be uploaded, provided that individuals cannot be identified either directly or indirectly.

3. Reliability, consistency and fairness

• The use of AI must not compromise the reliability or fairness of the evaluation. The conclusions of FINEEC’s audits are based on the consistent application of criteria and on the material collected during the audit.
• HEIs, audit team members and FINEEC are responsible for the accuracy of the information they produce and provide.
• Representatives of HEIs, audit team members and FINEEC experts communicate openly about how AI is used, for example by mentioning it in the self-assessment and audit report.