Just within the last few years, AI tools have become part of everyday life for many high-school students. In fact, more than half of US teens say they have used AI chatbots to get help with schoolwork.
These tools can answer questions, explain difficult topics, help organize ideas, and even provide feedback on your writing.
The ability to help doesn’t automatically make AI a bad thing for students. The problem comes when getting the answer becomes more important than learning how to find the answer.
Used carefully, AI can be a useful study partner. The trick is knowing when to ask for help… and when to put the chatbot away and do the work yourself.
Ask AI to Explain What You Don’t Understand
Sometimes a lesson just doesn’t click. Maybe you missed something in class, or maybe you can’t make sense of the explanation in your textbook. This is one place where AI can be useful.
We’re not suggesting you let AI solve the problem for you. Instead, ask it to explain the concept. Ask for an explanation in simpler language, for example, or have it give you another example. You could even have it walk through the general process one step at a time.
You can also ask follow-up questions if the first explanation doesn’t make sense. In some cases, simply approaching the same subject from a different angle can help make things clearer.
Remember, though, that AI can make mistakes. Be sure to check important information against your class materials or another reliable source.
Use AI to Get Unstuck
Sometimes, just getting started is the hardest part of an assignment. Again, AI tools can help.
If you have to write a paper, for example, you could ask AI to suggest several possible topics, then choose one that interests you and develop your own ideas.
AI might help you think of research questions, point out ways to organize your thoughts, or offer examples that help you better understand an assignment.
AI can help you jump-start your assignment, but after that, the learning is up to you.
Turn AI Into a Study Partner
Need to practice? AI is great for that!
Prompt it to ask questions based on a chapter you just studied. If you answer incorrectly, ask it to explain what you got wrong.
This can be especially useful before a test. You can practice vocabulary, review important concepts, work through sample questions, and identify areas where you need more studying. The idea here is to use the AI tool to help you practice… and learn.
Ask for Feedback on Your Work
What about asking AI to review an assignment before you turn it in? You could ask it to identify grammatical errors or point out places where an essay is confusing or where an explanation could be clearer.
Then make the changes yourself. Comparing the suggestions with your original work can help you see where your writing needs improvement and may even help you recognize the same problems the next time you write.
How Much AI Is Too Much?
It can be tempting to paste a difficult question into a chatbot, copy the response, and move on. Sure, the assignment gets finished, but you may still struggle when the same skill appears on a test.
Sometimes, getting the right answer isn’t nearly as important as knowing how you got it. If AI is doing all the thinking, you’re missing the part of the assignment that is supposed to help you learn. AI can be a great asset, but if you’re not learning, it’s doing too much.
Check the Rules and Check the Answer
AI is changing quickly, and schools are still working out how students should use it. That means the rules can differ from one school, teacher, or assignment to another.
Sometimes it’s fine to use AI for brainstorming, getting feedback, or editing. Sometimes AI tools may be prohibited altogether. Ask your teacher what’s allowed before you get started.
And always check what the AI tells you. AI tools can make incorrect answers sound convincing. Learning when and how to question an AI answer is a useful skill in itself.
Use AI to Learn, Not to Skip Learning
There’s a lot of controversy right now about using AI for school work. People often argue extremes, but there should be a balance.
Used well, it can help you understand a difficult idea, find a starting point, practice for a test, or improve work you have already done.
Ultimately, however, school is about developing your ability to think, solve problems, communicate, and learn independently.
In other words, AI can help you learn. Just don’t let it do the learning for you.