AI-Tools at ETH Zurich

Safe use of AI

Before exploring the capabilities of these tools, follow our Information Security Guidelines to ensure compliance with ETH Zurich’s data protection and security standards. Review the official recommendations here. 

• M365 Copilot is approved for use with confidential data when the web search option is turned off.
• M365 Copilot Chat is approved for internal data.

• AI tools lacking a cloud assessment have not been released for use with ETH data. However, the Article 7 Paragraph 2 of “ETH Zurich Acceptable Use Policy for IT Resources (BOT)” states the following:

"The occasional proper use of external IT services to support day-to-day business (e.g. search engines, online translation services, chatbots with artificial intelligence, ChatGPT) that are not approved by ETH Zurich by means of cloud assessment is the responsibility of the user. Personal data requiring special protection in accordance with the Data Protection Act (DSG)12 Art. 5 (c) and otherwise confidential or strictly confidential (material or personal) data may not be processed using such services."

• AI‑generated output must be reviewed before use.

Data classification

Information owners classify the information according to the risk-oriented approach as explained in RSETHZ 203.28 Appendix 1a

• Information is classified as “strictly confidential” if unauthorised access could damage the interests of ETH Zurich. It must not be stored on external cloud services and may only be shared with a specifically authorised group under strict security precautions.
• Information is classified as “confidential” if unauthorised access could significantly damage the interests of ETH Zurich. It must be limited to specific authorised individuals and securely stored.
• Information is classified as “internal” if unauthorised access could damage the interests of ETH Zurich. Such information is therefore generally intended solely for members of ETH Zurich. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all data and information at ETH is considered “internal”.
• Information is considered public if it is authorised for publication by the responsible body. 

Classification recommendation:

AI tools managed by IT Services

The tools in this section are enabled and managed by ID CCR Cloud Service Center.

Costs

AI tools included in personal cloud subscriptions, such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, are available free of charge. Any additional AI tools not included in these subscriptions are at the user’s own expense.

Microsoft AI tools

  Enterprise Data Protection, i.e., data is not used in model training and not reviewed by human reviewers. 

A cloud assessment is in place.

Google AI tools

Prerequisite: Google Workspace subscription

Google AI Tools have not yet been assessed by the CISO.

Tool	Data residency & processing location	Access & License
Gemini Chat	EUROPE	ETH members | Google Workspace subscription
Google AI Pro for Education	EUROPE	ETH employees | Google Workspace subscription + Google AI Pro license Prerequisite Only employees with a Google Workspace subscription can order a Google AI Pro license.
NotebookLM	GLOBAL	ETH members | Google Workspace subscription
Google AI Studio	GLOBAL	ETH members | Google Workspace subscription Restricted access ETH members with a Google Workspace subscription can request to participate the Google AI Studio Pilot by contacting servicedesk@id.ethz.ch
Conversational Agents	Selected location	ETH members | Google Workspace subscription + Google Project
Google Vertex AI	Selected location	ETH employees | Google Workspace subscription + Google Project

Enterprise Data Protection, i.e., data is not used in model training and not reviewed by human reviewers.

AI tools provided by ETH Library

AI-powered tools and services by the ETH Library

Unsupported tools

The tools in this section are not managed by ID CCR Cloud Service Center. As far as we know, NO cloud assessments are in place. The use of these tools are on user's own responsibility. 

On-prem AI tools

Guides