Working Group on Scholarly Content and Generative AI

Dear colleagues,

We write today to share the outputs of the Working Group on Scholarly Content and Generative AI, which was co-chaired by Chris Bourg, MIT Libraries Director, and Claire Schneider, Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel (OGC).  

Launched in April 2025 by the offices of the Provost (under then-Provost Cynthia Barnhart), Vice President for Research, and General Counsel, the working group was charged with helping the MIT community develop a common understanding of the legal, technical, and ethical issues involved when scholarly content is used in the development and training of generative AI models. 

In the course of its charge, the working group produced three resource documents to inform decisions made by MIT scholars and Institute entities that publish, steward, or otherwise manage scholarly content. 

1. Recommendations to inform decisions made by individual scholars in the use of scholarly content for generative AI.
2. A guide that provides specific and detailed information about accessing and using scholarly content for generative AI training purposes and describes which administrative office on campus can assist with particular questions.
3. A white paper written for the MIT community to describe the varying perspectives of different MIT stakeholders, as well as inform those interested in better understanding the current legal landscape that governs access and use of scholarly content for GenAI training.

We are grateful to Chris and Claire for their leadership and to the members of the working group, listed below our signatures, for their thoughtful work to advise the Institute on these important issues.

We encourage you to review these final materials and provide any feedback by emailing aicontent-workinggroup@mit.edu.

Sincerely,

Anantha P. Chandrakasan
Provost

Ian A. Waitz
Vice President for Research

Working Group on Scholarly Content and Generative AI members

Chris Bourg, Director of Libraries (co-chair)

Claire Schneider, Counsel, Office of the General Counsel (co-chair)

Amy Brand, Director and Publisher, MIT Press

Christopher Capozzola, Elting E. Morison Professor of History and Senior Associate Dean for Open Learning

Catherine D’Ignazio, Associate Professor of Urban Science and Planning

Dylan Hadfield-Menell, Bonnie and Marty (1964) Tenenbaum Career Development Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Graham Jones, Professor of Anthropology

Yoon Kim, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Ruth Lehmann, Professor of Biology and Director of the Whitehead Institute

Meghan McCollum Fenno, Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, and Executive Director, Office of Strategic Alliances, Transactions & Translation

Susan S. Silbey, Leon and Anne Goldberg Professor of Humanities, Sociology and Anthropology, and Professor of Behavioral and Policy Sciences

Eric So, Sloan Distinguished Professor of Global Economics and Management

Lily L. Tsai, Ford Professor of Political Science

Katie Zimmerman, Director of Copyright Strategy, MIT Libraries