The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has circulated Pakistan’s first draft policy on the use of artificial intelligence in higher education, asking universities across the country to develop their own institutional AI policies while promoting responsible and transparent use of the technology.
Under the proposed framework, universities will be required to clearly define where AI use is permitted, where it is restricted, and the conditions governing its use. Rather than imposing a blanket ban, the policy emphasizes transparency and responsible use of AI in teaching, learning, and research.
The draft policy prohibits students from using AI to generate assignments, dissertations, or theses and submitting them as their own work. It also makes disclosure mandatory whenever AI is used in academic work, requiring students and researchers to identify the AI tool used and explain its purpose. In addition, AI cannot be credited as the author of any research paper or academic publication.
The HEC has directed universities to integrate AI literacy into their curricula within the next two years so that students understand both the capabilities and limitations of artificial intelligence.
The policy also requires institutions to organize annual AI training programs for faculty members, students, and administrative staff. Every course outline must also specify the acceptable use of AI from the start of the course.
The framework encourages faculty members to use AI as a teaching and productivity tool for tasks such as tutoring, writing support, quiz generation, research assistance, and course design. Researchers will be allowed to use AI for literature reviews, developing research questions, translation, language improvement, and reference checking. However, all AI generated facts, references, and findings must be verified by humans, with researchers remaining fully responsible for the accuracy of their work.
The draft policy classifies fabricated references, fake research, invented data, and AI generated false results as serious academic misconduct. It also warns that using AI to conceal plagiarism, rewrite copied material to evade detection, or cheat during examinations will lead to disciplinary action. At the same time, the policy states that students cannot be penalized solely on the basis of an AI detection report.
The HEC has also directed universities to establish AI committees to oversee implementation, address complaints, monitor compliance, and submit annual reports on AI usage, violations, training activities, and policy developments to the commission.
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