Policy on AI Use

Application Deadlines

Knight-Hennessy Scholars seeks to understand your ideas, experiences, and voice. Your application should reflect your own thinking, judgment, and expression.

We recognize that AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) are increasingly part of how people work and write. You may use these tools in a limited, supportive way, for example, to brainstorm, help organize your early ideas, or make minor edits for spelling and grammar. 

However, your application must be your own work. All written materials you submit must represent your own ideas, reflections and experiences, and must reflect your own voice, thinking, and judgment. Using AI to generate draft responses, rewrite or significantly refine your writing in ways that make it sound more polished or different from your natural voice, or interpret your experiences and draw conclusions on your behalf is not permitted.

Overreliance on AI to significantly shape your responses will weaken your application by obscuring your authentic voice, making it difficult for us to assess your independence of thought, purposeful leadership, and civic mindset.

You are responsible for the integrity and authenticity of your application. 

Limited, Acceptable Uses in the Application

We recognize that some uses of AI tools can support, but not substitute for, your work. Thoughtful, limited uses in your application may include:

  • Early-stage brainstorming (e.g., identifying broad themes or angles you may want to explore)
  • Organizing your own ideas (e.g., grouping or sequencing points you have already developed, without determining the overall narrative or response structure)
  • Clarity checks (e.g., identifying, but not fixing, where your writing may be unclear or repetitive)
  • Light editing that preserves your original meaning and voice (e.g., grammar, spelling)

Unacceptable Uses in the Application

The following uses of AI tools move beyond support and into authorship, which runs counter to the purpose of the application, and are not permitted:

  • Generating substantive application content or core response elements (e.g., draft responses, sample responses, outlines, or narrative frameworks for application questions)
  • Rewriting, substantially refining, or paraphrasing your essays in ways that make them sound more polished or different from your natural voice
  • Generating reflections, lessons learned, motivations, or conclusions about your experiences
  • Submitting content that is not primarily your own original writing

Still Unsure? 

If you are unsure whether a particular use of an AI tool is allowed by Knight-Hennessy Scholars, ask yourself whether it would be acceptable to ask a mentor, teacher, advisor, or friend to do the same thing in your place. For example, asking someone to brainstorm ideas with you or point out unclear sections or grammar issues is generally consistent with this policy. Asking someone to write a draft or rewrite your response would not be. AI is a tool to support your work, not a replacement for your thinking.