AI Use Statement for a Grad Application: Examples

AI Use Statement for a Grad Application: Examples

There is no standard format. The form sets it: UBC says AI text "must be cited", Aalto gives you a 200-character field, the MARIHE Erasmus Mundus letter has a signed tick-box, and Brighton wants "a short statement". If you used no AI, a plain "none" is a complete answer.

Some graduate forms outside the US are specific about this, and three in the table below ask the question even if you used nothing. This page lists where graduate applications ask, what each form wants, and six constructed declarations, each within its form's limit. For undergraduate essays, see how to write an AI disclosure for a college application.

Every page and form quoted below was checked on October 31, 2026. Forms carry their intake year where shown; web pages state no cycle.

Where grad applications ask you to declare AI

Applying to TUM as well as a declare-and-allow programme? AI rules for European motivation letters shows one applicant's TUM, Aalto and MARIHE answers side by side.

Three of these ask the question whether or not you used AI: Aalto's field asks which parts used AI "if any", MARIHE makes you tick one of two boxes, and Oulu requires you to state "whether" AI was used. On those forms, leaving the answer blank is not the same as saying none.

MARIHE is the strictest about the form itself: "The use of AI (artificial intelligence) has to be clearly declared! Otherwise, the application will be rejected due to formal reasons." It also tells you to "fill in and sign the AI declaration below".

What a declaration must contain

The forms above ask for four things between them. Put all four in, and nothing else:

1. The part of the application. Aalto asks "In which parts of the application"; MARIHE asks for "the part in which it was used".
2. The task. Aalto asks "for what purpose"; MARIHE asks for the "Purpose of use". Name the task plainly: spelling check, literature search, shortening one paragraph.
3. The tool, where asked. MARIHE asks for the "Name(s) of the AI tools used". Aalto does not.
4. What is yours. UBC's applicant declaration certifies "that the ideas represented in responses are my own." Saying which parts are entirely yours makes the declaration complete.

Leave out apologies, explanations of why AI is useful, and claims about how much better your writing became. A declaration is a record, not a pitch.

Our view: if you used no AI, say "none" in one sentence and move on. It is a legitimate, complete answer, and the forms that ask "if any" or "whether" expect it. Do not invent a minor use to look candid.

The countercase: if you used an AI tool for anything at all, including spelling, and the form lists that use, as Aalto's does with "proofreading, translation, spelling, grammar", then "none" is not true. Declare the small use.

What is unknown: none of these schools publishes whether a declared AI use changes how the application is read.

Six declarations, by format

Six constructed examples, written by us, not real applicant statements. Each fits its form's stated limit. Character counts include spaces and are our arithmetic.

Constructed example: Aalto field, AI used for spelling (174 characters)

AI tool used only to check spelling and grammar in my three answers. I accepted single-word fixes. All ideas, structure and wording are my own. No AI drafting or translation.

It answers both parts of Aalto's question (which parts, and for what purpose) inside "max. 200 characters", and it names the uses Aalto lists.

Constructed example: Aalto field, no AI used (60 characters)

None. No AI tools were used in any part of this application.

Short is correct here. The field asks "if any".

Constructed example: MARIHE form, declared use

Option ticked: I declare that I have used AI tools to write this letter, as described below.

Name(s) of the AI tools used: [the name of the tool you used]

Purpose of use and the part in which it was used: Checking the grammar of paragraph 3 of my letter. I wrote the paragraph and accepted only grammar corrections.

Write the actual tool name in that field, as the form asks. If you used none, tick "I declare that I have not used any AI tools to write this letter", then date and sign the form by hand as it instructs.

Constructed example: UBC-style citation of a kept AI sentence

Note on AI use: The final sentence of paragraph 2 was produced by a generative AI tool on October 12, 2026, from my prompt asking it to shorten my own two-sentence draft. I reviewed it for accuracy. All other text and all ideas in this statement are my own.

UBC asks for the text to be "cited, and the process used made transparent". Use the citation format in the UBC Library guide that UBC's page links. This note shows the process part. Our Canada grad school AI rules page explains why the same sentence cannot go to Alberta, which bans the tool.

Constructed example: White Rose DTP scholarship form

AI use: I used an AI search tool to find candidate papers for the literature section of my research proposal. I read every cited paper in full. The research questions, design and all text are my own. I checked that this use is consistent with my host university's plagiarism policy.

The last sentence answers White Rose DTP's rule that AI use "must not breach plagiarism policy of the proposed host institution".

Constructed example: UWE portfolio explanation

AI acknowledgment: Two concept images in project 4 were generated with an AI image tool from my own sketches, to test color options quickly. The final drawings and all written text in the portfolio are my own work.

UWE asks for "a brief explanation of how and why AI was used" when AI is part of the creative process.

For research proposals in the formats Cambridge, Brighton and Oulu ask for, see using AI for a PhD research proposal.

Declaring a use that was not permitted

A declaration does not make a banned use allowed. Cambridge says "AI must not be used when writing personal statements and CVs." Alberta prohibits AI "in the preparation and submission of application materials". Disclosing that you used AI on a Cambridge statement or an Alberta letter tells the reader you broke the rule; it does not fix it.

If you used AI where the rule bans it, the fix is the document, not the declaration. Rewrite the affected parts yourself from your own notes before you submit. Then answer every declaration truthfully: if a form asks whether AI was used at any stage, and it was, say so. Our page on rewriting a ChatGPT SOP in your own words covers how. If you have already submitted and the university asks, see what to do when a university asks about AI in your SOP.

Before you submit a declaration

1. Find every place the application asks about AI: a form field, a tick-box, a separate statement, or a rule on the program page.
2. Check whether the rule for your document is a ban, a disclosure rule or neither. The AI rules for UK master's personal statements table compares destinations.
3. List what you actually used, by part and task.
4. Write the declaration with the four elements above, inside the form's limit. Count characters where the limit is in characters.
5. Keep your drafts and notes, so you can explain any declared use if asked.

Questions about AI declarations

Do I have to declare a spell checker?

On Aalto's form, an AI spelling or grammar tool belongs in the answer, because the form lists "spelling" and "grammar". MARIHE asks about "AI tools". Where a school publishes no AI rule, the certification inside the application is what you sign, so read it there. Our page on Grammarly and ChatGPT for English on an SOP sorts these uses by rule.

Will declaring AI hurt my application?

No school above publishes evidence either way. MARIHE says "The Consortium has decided to allow the use of AI, but only insofar as this requires a critical awareness of how to use it in line with the universities' educational missions", and White Rose DTP permits declared use. On those forms, a declared permitted use is following the rule; an undeclared one is what MARIHE says leads to rejection.

What if the form has no AI field?

Read the program page and the application's certification. Brighton requires "a short statement acknowledging how Gen AI has been used" even without a set field, so where no location is given, our recommendation is a short labelled note at the end of the document. If you used no AI and nobody asks, you do not need a statement.

Where do I put the statement on a research proposal?

Cambridge and Brighton do not say. Our recommendation is a short labelled note at the end of the proposal, before the reference list, so it is easy to find.

Get a free review of your statement of purpose

Get a free Quick Review of your statement of purpose against GradPilot's general MS statement of purpose rubric. It reads for specific academic goals, evidence of preparation, knowledge of the program and how closely the statement speaks to one program. Writing a research proposal? The PhD research proposal rubric reads your question, the gap you build from named prior work and whether your methods can answer it. You can also start from the graduate SOP review page and choose the general MS statement of purpose rubric there. More guides are in the graduate school essays hub.

Sources

Retrieved October 31, 2026, except where noted.

• University of British Columbia, Graduate education and Generative AI (no cycle stated): citation rule, applicant declaration.
• Aalto University, Electronics and Nanotechnology motivation questionnaire 2027 (2027 intake): AI declaration field and limit.
• MARIHE, Letter of motivation template, intake 2027: AI declaration options, fields, rejection line, signature.
• University of Brighton, Use of Generative AI for PGR Admissions (no cycle stated): short acknowledgment statement.
• University of Cambridge, Postgraduate Admissions, Using AI in your application (no cycle stated): research proposal acknowledgment, personal statement ban.
• UWE Bristol, Using generative AI in your application (no cycle stated): portfolio and proposal acknowledgment.
• University of Oulu, The use of artificial intelligence in the preparation of the research plan must be disclosed (June 24, 2026): doctoral research plan disclosure.
• White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership, WRDTP Statement on AI Contributions (August 2025): scholarship form declaration, host-institution plagiarism line.
• University of Alberta, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Apply (no cycle stated): AI ban.