Homework AI-Use Decision Tree

Companion to AI homework help vs. cheating: a decision tree by learning objective.

Step 0: check the actual rule first

Checked the syllabus, assignment sheet, or teacher’s stated AI-use policy for this task.
If unclear, asked the teacher directly with a specific example rather than guessing.
The school’s or teacher’s rule is the one that controls — not household preference.

No stated policy does not mean “assume yes.” Treat silence as “ask,” not “default to permitted.”

The four questions — fill in per assignment

Assignment:	________________________________________________

1. What skill is this assignment actually measuring? (Not the subject — the skill.)

2. Does the intended AI use replace that skill or support it?

Supports it (child still performs the graded skill afterward)
Replaces it (the AI performed the graded skill)
Genuinely ambiguous — go to question 4 for the deciding test

3. Does the assignment require disclosure of AI use?

Yes — disclosed as: ________________________________________
No requirement stated
Unclear — asked the teacher

4. Can the child independently demonstrate the skill without the tool?

Test it directly, not hypothetically — have them redo a similar problem or explain their reasoning unaided.

Yes, demonstrated independently
Not yet — this is a learning gap worth addressing regardless of any rule

Verdict

Practice help — supports the skill, disclosure not required or completed, independent demonstration confirmed.
Disclosed collaboration — some AI contribution to the output, disclosed per the assignment’s rules, independent demonstration confirmed.
Substitution — the graded skill was performed by the AI, disclosure was skipped where required, or independent demonstration failed. Address before submitting.

Three worked examples for reference

Task	Skill measured	Use	Verdict
Vocabulary practice	Recall and usage of assigned words	AI generates example sentences to study from	Practice help, if recall later confirmed unaided
History essay	Constructing an argument from evidence	AI writes the full essay from an outline	Substitution — the graded work happened in the AI’s process
Coding debug task	Locating and fixing a bug class	AI explains the bug, child fixes it after understanding	Ambiguous — resolved by testing independent debugging afterward

A note on AI detection tools

Automated AI-text detectors are not a reliable way to enforce any of the above, on either side. OpenAI discontinued its own detector in 2023 over accuracy problems and has stated no tool reliably tells AI-generated text apart from human writing. Peer-reviewed work has shown higher false-positive rates for non-native English writing; claims about neurodivergent writers are less settled. Use the four questions above and an actual independent-demonstration check — not a detector score — to decide.

Log across the term

Date	Assignment	Verdict	Independent demonstration confirmed?

The family AI agreement — for setting the household’s disclosure norm before it comes up at school.
A child’s first AI conversation — the verification habit that applies whether or not AI use is permitted on a given task.