Terms of Use in conjunction with artificial intelligence (AI) at the University of Vienna

The University of Vienna provides its employees (hereinafter referred to as users) with certain software packages. When using these software packages, this software may be partially or fully controlled by artificial intelligence (hereinafter referred to as AI) and/or AI may thus be used for university/professional purposes. When using software with artificial intelligence (hereinafter referred to as AI software), the user expressly undertakes to comply with the following terms of use of the University of Vienna as well as generally recognised rules on data protection and data security when using such software.

In the following, a distinction is made between AI software that is licensed by the University of Vienna and approved for university/professional purposes and AI software that is used without logging in with a university account. All users should therefore note that the terms of use distinguish between these two variants.

Regardless of whether you use AI software licensed by the University of Vienna and approved for university/professional purposes (item A.) or other AI software (item B.), please always be aware of this: If you use personal data for your own purposes, you are the controller within the meaning of the GDPR, with all the consequences. Violations of the GDPR are punishable by severe penalties. Users may also face consequences under employment law. When using AI software in accordance with item B. (AI software that is used via the Internet or app store (or similar) without logging in with a university account), the Austrian employees’ liability act (Dienstnehmerhaftpflichtgesetz) does not apply to the extent permitted.

A. AI software licensed and approved by the University of Vienna

• A current list of AI software (with a focus on so-called general-purpose artificial intelligence/AI systems with a general purpose for text, image or audio/video generation) licensed by the University of Vienna can be found on this u:wiki page (in German).
• The University of Vienna recommends always using the default settings, if available, in case the University of Vienna has not specified any specific settings.
• Any changes to the default settings are possible only in accordance with the principles of data protection, such as legality, privacy by default, data minimisation, minimisation of the use of data and purposeful use of data.
• If the University of Vienna cannot make default settings, e.g. for technical or legal reasons, the user has to change the settings to ensure that they meet data protection standards wherever possible.
• All information must be stored exclusively within the EU in any case. If this cannot be ensured, separate information will be provided to the user and no undisclosed personal employee data or confidential information (e.g. trade and business secrets) may be processed (already during the prompting process).
• When processing personal data and confidential information, ensure that the information can be anonymised. If this is virtually impossible, you may only use pseudonymised data. If this is also not possible, you have to observe the data minimisation principle for personal data in such a way that only the data that are absolutely necessary are processed by means of the AI software.
• In any case, no sensitive employee data within the meaning of Art. 9 of the GDPR may be processed without additional regulation in the form of a company-level agreement or other involvement of the responsible works council.
• There must be a legal basis under data protection law for the processing of personal data of other persons by means of AI software (e.g. if this data is already publicly available).
• The University of Vienna assumes no liability for the accuracy and completeness of content and data provided by the University of Vienna for the use of AI software.
• The University of Vienna assumes no liability towards users for the accuracy and completeness of the content and data used in the course of using the AI software.
• Every AI can make mistakes. Critically scrutinise and check the accuracy of information generated by AI software before using it.
• Furthermore, the University of Vienna makes no guarantee for the availability, obtainability, functionality and usability of AI software for the purposes intended by the users.
• The use of AI software is limited to the term of the licence acquired by the University of Vienna. At the end of the licence agreement, the provisions for AI software that is used without logging in with a university account (see B below) must be observed.
• It is strictly prohibited that users use AI software in any form that is prohibited by law, regulations or official orders, or by provisions in a relevant legal framework or contractual agreement.
• Furthermore, the use of AI software must not violate the rights of other persons. Among other things, this includes personal rights, data protection law and copyright law.
• The Data Protection Declaration of the University of Vienna as amended, the Privacy Policy of the University of Vienna for Cloud Services and other IT Applications (in German) as amended, section 4 addressing general information about data processing and the framework agreement on the processing of personal data of employees (data framework agreement) as amended provide you with further information about the suitability of data that can be processed with an AI tool.
• Users are obliged to comply with all technical restrictions of the subject of the contract which only allow the users to use the AI software in a specific way and also not to circumvent these restrictions.
• It is not permitted to incite others to violate these terms of use.
• For questions about AI, please see the information and service pages Guidelines for dealing with AI at the University of Vienna (in German), IT world Artificial intelligence and the specific ZID service pages for the respective applications.
• If you notice severe deficiencies when using licensed AI software (e.g. if the AI software provides strange results), please use the Servicedesk form "Software Mitarbeiter*innen” (software for employees) of the ZID.
• If you use content that was predominantly generated by AI software, it must be labelled accordingly. In addition, the provisions of the 2002 Universities Act apply to academic research and writing.