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v.1 January 2026 by NIOO AI committee

Vision

The Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) recognises that generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of our society and is a transformative technology that can help optimising administrative and management processes, carrying out research more efficiently and addressing complex challenges. A range of tasks can be augmented and automated in this way. However, no one at NIOO is required to use AI, and maintaining strong (scientific) skills, critical reflection and human expertise is essential. We strive to remain collaborative, inclusive and responsible even when AI tools are available.

If AI is used in research and management processes at NIOO, it is important that it is done in a responsible and ethical manner. This means in compliance with the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, and with existing laws and regulations (e.g. the Artificial Intelligence Act and GDPR). AI must serve to augment human intelligence and expertise but should not become the guiding principle in establishing research directions or executing management and research tasks. At NIOO, AI cannot and should not replace human judgment, moral agency, or accountability in (scientific) practice.

NIOO adheres to the KNAW AI guidelines. Additionally, practical and ethical guidelines for the use of AI at NIOO have been made (section 2), as well as helpful tools for governance, stewardship and training of NIOO personnel and students (section 3).

Five practical and ethical guidelines for responsible use of AI at NIOO

By taking these guidelines into consideration, NIOO people work together towards safe and ethical use of AI. You can see them as the 5 “lab rules” for using AI. You are:

Accountable:

  • Human-in-the-lead is the guiding principle for working with AI.

  • Employees retain 100% responsibility for the accuracy, integrity and scientific validity of AI-generated content or analysis.

  • AI cannot be held accountable for actions you have taken.

  • AI tools can never be listed as author on NIOO publications.

  • Adhere to regulations of funding bodies. If they prohibit usage, do not use AI. This endangers the (funding) position of NIOO and KNAW.

Transparent:

  • Clearly state where and for what which (generative) AI has been part of a process, including in publications and (student) reports. Acknowledgement can be done in a statement or in the methods section of a paper/report.

  • Share and publish code and prompts that have been used, as you would with data or scripts. You can also use NIOO AI Library to share useful prompts with colleagues.

  • Follow FAIR and Open Science principles when using AI in sharing and reporting data.

Critical:

  • Work with AI tools that provide best available standards on ethics, research integrity, and Open and FAIR science.

  • Make sure to check output generated by AI for factual accuracy.

  • Check AI-generated output for unintended algorithmic and database biases.

Secure:

  • Mind your data security! Be alert on materials shared with AI. Do not share e.g. sensitive, personal, or ecologically sensitive knowledge and data with third-party cloud-based AI services. Any data uploaded is at risk of being used for training purposes.

  • Check the privacy settings of third-party cloud-based AI tools strictly. E.g. set data sharing/privacy settings to not ‘improve the model for everyone’.

  • Be aware who owns the intellectual property of materials shared with AI. Do not share e.g. unpublished work, data, copyrighted material, application letters or project ideas of others with third-party cloud-based AI.

Aware:

  • Assess the societal impact that your use of AI has. Proactively mitigate unintended biases with respect to equity, justice, representation, et cetera.

  • Be aware of the environmental impact of your use of AI. Do not use AI for things that could be done equally efficiently without.

  • Be conscious of the fact that major LLMs are often trained on copyrighted material.

Governance, stewardship and training

Governance

NIOO has an AI committee. This committee meets four times per year and is responsible for

  • overseeing developments in the field of AI outside and inside NIOO;

  • assessing the use of AI in research;

  • providing tools and support for the use of AI at NIOO;

  • reviewing and assessing advantages and risks of using AI;

  • and updating the NIOO AI policy if needed.

The NIOO AI committee will connect with relevant committees and teams within and outside NIOO to enable responsible use and implementation of AI tools at NIOO. These committees and platforms include:

  • The NIOO management team;

  • RIAB for research ethics and responsible use of AI in research;

  • Green Team for environmental awareness and environmental impact of AI;

  • ICT and Bioinformatics for technological implementation of tools and AI support;

  • RSO for NIOO AI Library (with prompt library and practical guidelines);

  • SURF for tools and interfaces for using AI in a safe way;

  • Bureau and other KNAW institutes for sharing ideas, guidelines and infrastructure for use of AI;

  • LTER-LIFE for (the development of) ecology-specific AI tools and technologies.

The NIOO AI committee consists of at least six members: four researchers/research assistants (each department), one representative of CMS, the head of RSO, and the NIOO privacy coordinator (table 1).

Role Responsibilities

4 researchers/

research assistants

 Representing research departments, connecting to department heads, overview and contact point of the use of AI tools at research departments, connection to RIAB, Green Team, LTER-LIFE
1 CMS representative Representing Central Management and Services, connecting to section heads
Head of RSO Chair, overview and contact point of the use of AI tools at CMS, connecting to MT, ICT, bioinformatics, KNAW and SURF, responsible for prompt library and practical guidelines
Privacy coordinator Securing that NIOO AI guidelines and use of AI is in line with use of privacy-sensitive data and information

Table 1. Overview members and responsibilities of the AI committee at NIOO

Stewardship

NIOO has an AI Library (link), set up as a Gitlab community for easy collaboration, maintained and managed by RSO. The AI Library includes:

  • An up-to-date overview of tools to use and tools not to use (e.g. tools that do not comply with scientific integrity, privacy regulations or ethical guidelines);

  • Practical guidelines for using AI, publishing models and reporting on the use of AI in articles, reports and theses;

  • An open prompt library for storing and re-using prompts;

  • This policy document, including practical examples.

Training

NIOO will organise training sessions and discussions (link) on the use of AI. These meetings have three aims:

  • To equip researchers, students and staff with the necessary information, techniques and tools to use AI responsibly and effectively (e.g. how to write prompts, which tools to use for what etc.);

  • To discuss together how we want to use AI at NIOO in a responsible, ethical and upright manner;

  • To learn how to use AI during supervision and how to guide students, PhDs, and PDs to use AI responsibly.

The NIOO AI committee can organise (or initiate the organisation of) training and discussions, and this can be done together with e.g. HR, ICT, Bioinformatics, LTER-LIFE, PR, RIAB, Green Team, and KNAW or other organisations outside NIOO depending on the aim of training or discussion and the expertise needed.

Acknowledgements

References

  1. KNAW policy (link)

  2. AI policy of Utrecht University (link)

  3. University of Amsterdam (link)

AI statement

[AI+] Output by LLMs (Gemini, ChatGPT and CoPilot) was used as inspiration for this document. The text was fully written by NIOO people.