University policies on generative AI in Asia: promising practices, gaps, and future directions

Considering the opportunities and challenges raised by generative AI (GenAI) technologies, many universities have been developing policies to guide the integration of GenAI in their academic community. Focusing on Asian universities, this paper presents a scoping review of policy development regarding the GenAI integration. Guided by the theoretical framework of technology integration, this study examined the GenAI policies of 30 universities from the QS top 60 Asian universities with inductive content analysis. The review reveals that these policies prioritized text generation applications, student management, and academic integrity, suggesting an effort to uphold traditional academic values and encourage informed adoption. While the universities were at different stages of understanding and managing GenAI, they tended towards a comprehensive approach in formatting their guidance for internal stakeholders and assessment policies. The review also uncovered gaps in policymaking, such as the exclusion of non-academic staff, limited use of evidence-based practices, international misalignments, and a strong adherence to traditional academic paradigms. This scoping review provides a comprehensive and multifaceted overview of policy development in Asian universities, laying the groundwork for global discussions about the role of GenAI in higher education.