Artificial intelligence—or AI for short—has seen an all time high in prevalence throughout all aspects of life, particularly tailored for help in homework. Models like ChatGPT, Deepseek, and Google Gemini are now common sights, having been marketed as “homework help” ever since the explosion of popularity in these models. But just how is AI being used in homework? Is it being used as a way to get the answer, or as a legitimate helping tool?

Mason Kuyper, ‘27, mentioned that he used AI assistance just to study, but interestingly pointed out that he also used AI to “produce more review material,” saying that “[he uses] it to produce more work to do,” showing AI’s use as review help rather than help for homework, though he mentioned that he only uses it after “[doing] the work that [hes] assigned,” separating AI usage and school assigned work. Wilson Kullmann, ‘27, echoed this thought, mentioning that he rarely uses AI. “I usually use it to […] review concepts,” Kullmann explained, saying it allows him to “clear up some questions I wasn’t able to clear up during class.”

Kuyper and Kullmann both went on to explain their thoughts on AI for homework, both summarizing that they didn’t use AI for formative assessments and writing, with Kuyper mentioning he didn’t like using AI for just getting the answer and Kullmann saying that “I still want my work to be my work.” Rather, they both agreed that AI usage should be limited, as Kullmann, when asked about whether he thought AI should be allowed for usage in homework, mentioned that AI usage shouldn’t be allowed “directly for. […] homework.” Rather, Kullmann proposed the usage of AI as a way to review concepts, saying that AI should be allowed to help someone review but shouldn’t be allowed for doing homework. Kuyper’s method of using AI to produce more work for review echoes this thought, positing the value of AI as a review tool rather than a go-to for answers.

AI continues to be a relevant resource for students, but the issues regarding where it can and cannot be used remain blurry. As both Kullmann and Kuyper proposed, perhaps AI should be allowed with limited utilization only for contexts such as review and studying. So AI is a great homework helper, but shouldn’t be used to replace one’s work. Ultimately, as Kuyper argued, AI usage overall should “[depend] on department policy.”