Dear University of Otago,

I noticed the message from the Vice Chancellor sent as "Communications - University Of Otago Student update: 25 February 2026" at 4PM today contained several linguistic structures highly associated with AI use. For example the it's not X it's Y structure and em dashes. ( e.g. "The people who live around you aren’t just locals — they’re your neighbours.")

Placing the letter into GPTZero (Model 4.2b) the commercial AI detector tool usually considered ~90% accurate at detecting AI written tex ( see https://doi.org/10.62273/PZWW7741) the model predicted 100% likelihood of AI Generation for the entirety of the welcome to Otago message.

To be clear I am not stating or accusing the VC of using AI in the text or behaving unethically, simply that commercially available detection tools which are not always perfectly accurate flag the text as AI generated.

Please respond to the following three questions:

1) Did the Vice Chancellor use Generative AI to write his start of the year message? If so Please provide any information held by the University of Otago regarding whether Generative AI was used to draft or edit the "University of Otago Student update: 25 February 2026." including any prompts or AI conversation transcripts.

2) What policies if any does the university of Otago have in place for AI use by staff and senior leadership. Including any policies surrounding disclosure of AI use.

3) More broadly, does the University of Otago allow staff to send AI generated text, especially emails without stating that the text was AI generated.

Thank you, and I reiterate that I am not stating that the VC has used AI or acted unethically.

Yours faithfully,
AC