How to use AI for homework

We've all been there – knowing that AI could help with your homework but wondering just how much it's ok to use it before your teachers get suspicious.

According to the BBC Bitesize and Radio 5 Live Teen Summit survey almost half of you have used AI to help with homework, so we've enlisted the help of Dan Fitzpatrick, AKA the AI Educator, to give you his top tips and things to think about. Here's Dan's advice on how to stay out of trouble while making the most of AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot.

Can they be a helpful study partner? Yes! But if you use them in the wrong way, you could find yourself in trouble for cheating.

Here's Dan's golden rules and top tips to use AI smartly.

Dan says: “AI chatbots are super-smart brains full of facts. They haven't learned things like a human. Instead, they've been trained on a lot of text from the internet. In a basic way, their main skill is guessing which word should come next in a sentence. This means they can sound very confident with their answers. But they can, and sometimes do, get things completely wrong. They can make up facts, sources and dates. This is often called ‘hallucinating’.

Think of AI like Wikipedia or a starting point for research, not a final, trustworthy source. The number one rule is that you are responsible for checking that everything you submit is accurate.”

Let’s start with the positives. AI can be an amazing tool to help you learn better. The key is to use it to help you study, not to do the work for you.

Here are some roles you can get AI to play to assist you.

1. Your personal research assistant

Brainstorm ideas

If you don't know where to start with a piece of work, you could ask an AI to help you explore different topics or arguments. You can even ask it to play ‘devil's advocate’ and challenge your ideas.

Understand the question

Paste in your homework question and ask the AI to explain the ‘task words’, like the difference between evaluate and discuss.

Summarise your own notes

After class, you could paste your notes or upload a photo of your notes to an AI tool and ask it to pull out the key themes and main points. This is a great way to condense information for revision.

Create study materials

From your notes, you can ask the AI to generate practice questions, multiple-choice quizzes or flashcards to test your knowledge. This is a brilliant way to actively revise.

Generate a revision plan and timetable

Tell the AI how much time you have before the assignment or exam and ask it plan out your study sessions with appropriate tasks and content.

To keep yourself safe, you must be aware of the risks.

Don't share anything private

Never enter any personal data into a public AI tool. This includes your name, school or any info about your family or friends. AI companies can use this data to train their AI. Remember, what you type doesn't just disappear - AI chatbots may store it and build up a picture of you over time.

Don't break copyright

Do not upload pages from a textbook, an exam paper or other materials that are protected by copyright. To be safe, only use AI to process material you have created yourself, like your own notes.

Don't outsource your brain

The whole point of school is to build your own thinking skills. If you always use AI to solve problems or write essays, you risk not developing those crucial skills yourself. This is called 'cognitive offloading'. You might pass an assignment, but you won't be prepared for your final exams or for life after school.

The UK government has not set national rules on AI for students. Instead, it's up to every school to create its own policy. This means the rules at your school could be different from your friend's school. You could find and read your school's Acceptable Use Policy on AI. You'll probably find it on the school website or you could ask a teacher for it.

If you're ever in doubt, ask your teacher before you use an AI tool for an assignment.

The exam boards who run GCSEs and SQAs have been very clear. The work you hand in must be your own.

Using AI in a way that means the work is no longer your own can be a serious form of cheating. This includes:

• Copying and pasting AI text and pretending you wrote it.
• Getting AI to rewrite or 'improve your arguments to make them sound more sophisticated. If the AI is doing the thinking, it's not your work.
• Using ideas from AI without crediting it as a source, just like you would with a website or book.

Your teachers will likely know your style of writing and can often spot when something looks different. Some schools also use AI detection software, which can estimate how much of your work was written by AI. Although these detection tools can be inaccurate.

While a software report should never be the only evidence used, it can trigger an investigation by your teacher.

If you're found to have committed malpractice, the penalties can sometimes include:

• Getting a zero for the assignment
• Being disqualified from the qualification.

Unfortunately, thousands of students in the UK have already been caught. It’s a huge risk to take. So, don’t do it!

If you need support

You should always tell someone about the things you’re worried about. You can tell a friend, parent, guardian, teacher, or another trusted adult. If you're struggling with your mental health, going to your GP can be a good place to start to find help. Your GP can let you know what support is available to you, suggest different types of treatment and offer regular check-ups to see how you’re doing.

If you’re in need of in-the-moment support you can contact Childline, where you can speak to a counsellor. Their lines are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

There are more links to helpful organisations on the BBC Bitesize Action Line page for young people.