Day 6: Is using AI cheating? — LearnAI

Today's idea

If you get AI to do a task and hand it in under your own name, is that always dishonest? (tap to see)

No, not always. Using AI isn't wrong in itself. The problem starts when you pass off the whole job as your own without understanding or checking it, or when you claim something that isn't true. Using a tool isn't wrong — a false claim is the problem.

If you understand and check it yourself, the work stays honest; if you use it blindly, a question mark stays

Imagine you ask a tailor to make you a shirt. The tailor uses a sewing machine instead of stitching by hand. Is that dishonest? No — the machine is a tool, to make the work easier and faster. But if the tailor did nothing, had someone else make the whole shirt, and then said, "I made this with my own hands" — then the problem isn't the machine. It's the false claim.

It's the same with AI. Using AI to understand a maths problem, to polish the wording of an email, or to fix the structure of an application letter — none of that is dishonest. It's using a tool, just like using a calculator.

The problem starts when AI does the whole job, and you pass it off as yours without understanding or checking any of it. A student hands in an answer written by AI without understanding it. An office worker sends off an opinion written by AI without even reading it, as if it were their own decision. Or an application contains something that isn't true. That's when it becomes dishonest.

So the main point is simple — using AI isn't the problem; use it with understanding and care. Use it to make work easier, to learn, to get better. But in the end, the work should truly reflect what you understand and what is true.

Try it yourself Time: 3 minutes

1.Open the Gemini or ChatGPT app.
2.Pick a small task from your own life, like a message or an email you need to send someone. Write it like this:

Delete the part inside the square brackets [ ] and put in your own details.

I want to send a message to [a colleague/a neighbour/a relative]. The topic: [write your real topic here]. Please write a polite, well-organised draft.
3.When you get the answer, read all of it carefully. Ask yourself — "Do I fully understand what's written here, and is it true?" Anything that doesn't sound like you, or seems wrong, fix it yourself, and only then send it.

Do it together Time: 5 minutes

With anyone — a child, a parent, a friend or a colleague.

Sit down with your partner and talk about a real-life example. Ask:

"When do you think it's okay to use AI for a task, and when does it go too far?"

Together, think of 2-3 examples — one from studies, one from work, one from an application — where using AI is fine, and where it becomes dishonest.

We did this together

Today's key point

Using AI isn't dishonest — but passing off AI's work as your own, without understanding or checking it, is the real problem.

Check yourself

Two quick questions from today's lesson.

1. An office worker used AI to draft an email, then read it, understood it, fixed what needed fixing and sent it. Is that dishonest?

Correct answer: No, because they read and understood it before sending — AI helped, but they understood and checked the final text before sending it, so it's honest use.

2. Which one is an example of dishonesty?

Correct answer: Handing in AI's whole answer word for word without understanding it, and saying it's your own work — getting AI to do the whole job and passing it off as yours, without understanding or checking it, is the dishonest one. The other two are fair use.