Use AI tools without losing the learning

Decide which part of the task you should learn

Before using an AI tool, identify the skill the assignment is meant to develop. If you are learning argument structure, having a tool produce the entire essay can remove the practice you need. If you already understand a concept, asking for additional practice questions may support learning. Check your institution’s current rules and the instructions for the particular assignment. Different tasks may permit different kinds of assistance. Write down what you will do yourself and where assistance is appropriate. This small pause prevents convenience from quietly replacing the very activity you are trying to become better at.

Treat outputs as material to evaluate

AI-generated explanations can sound fluent while containing errors, missing context, or invented references. Check important claims against course materials and reliable primary sources. If a tool supplies a citation, confirm that the source exists and supports the statement. Ask for reasoning you can inspect, then work through it independently. Compare multiple approaches when useful, but do not assume agreement between tools establishes truth. For calculations, code, and factual summaries, use appropriate checks. The aim is to improve your understanding and efficiency while retaining responsibility for the content you submit, share, or rely on.

Protect your information and other people’s work

Avoid pasting personal identifiers, private messages, confidential research data, or someone else’s unpublished work into a service without appropriate permission. Check the tool’s data-handling settings and your institution’s requirements. Use fictional examples when sensitive information is unnecessary. If you work in a group, agree on acceptable tool use and attribution rather than assuming everyone is comfortable with the same approach. Be especially careful with career and assessment information, which can reveal personal preferences or concerns. Useful assistance rarely requires sharing a complete personal history, school record, or private counseling conversation.

Make assistance visible and test yourself

Keep a brief record of how you used the tool, following any required disclosure format. Explain which ideas, checks, and decisions are yours. After finishing, try to summarize the work or solve a similar problem without assistance. If you cannot, identify the missing understanding and practice it directly. In a portfolio, describe tool use as part of the process instead of claiming full independent authorship. Responsible use is not measured by how little or how much technology you use; it is shown by whether you understand the result, respect the rules, and can account for your contribution.

Worked example: use an explanation without outsourcing the task

A fictional student is learning to interpret a graph. They ask an AI tool to explain the difference between a percentage change and a percentage-point change, then check the explanation against their course material. They create their own small example and solve it without the tool. When an answer looks plausible but uses the wrong denominator, they correct it and note the mistake. The tool helped generate an explanation, but understanding was tested through independent work. For an assessed assignment, the student must also follow the institution’s current rules; this example does not give permission to use assistance where it is prohibited.

Use a before-and-after learning check

Before using a tool, write what you are meant to learn and what assistance the task permits. Afterward, close the output and explain the method, reproduce a key step and apply it to a changed example. If you cannot, identify the missing understanding before presenting the work as yours. Verify factual claims and citations at the original source rather than trusting a fluent summary. Keep private student information, confidential work and other people’s data out of prompts unless use is properly authorised. Record meaningful assistance in the form your course requires. The point is to make your own learning and responsibility visible, even when a tool saves time.

Your next actions

• Identify the learning objective
• Check assignment-specific rules
• Verify important claims and sources
• Test your understanding without the tool