Using AI tools in your coursework without breaking the rules

Policies on generative AI differ between institutions, between departments within an institution, and sometimes between modules within a department. That is inconvenient but it is the current reality, and the practical consequence is that there is no universal answer to what is allowed. There is only your module's answer.

Find the policy that applies to you

Start with the module handbook, then the department, then the university. Where they conflict, the most specific one usually governs, but that is worth confirming with your tutor rather than assuming. Some modules now require a declaration of AI use, and failing to make one when required is itself the breach.

A workable distinction

Where policies are vague, a distinction that holds up reasonably well is between using a tool to help you understand and using it to produce the thing being assessed. Asking for an explanation of a concept is closer to using a tutor. Generating the paragraphs you submit is closer to submitting someone else's work.

• Generally accepted: explaining a concept you are stuck on
• Generally accepted: checking grammar in text you wrote yourself
• Usually needs declaring: generating an outline or structure
• Usually prohibited: generating prose you then submit
• Always prohibited: generating citations without verifying them

What detection actually does

AI detection tools produce probability estimates, not proof, and they carry a well-documented false positive rate that falls disproportionately on students writing in a second language. Most institutions therefore treat a detection score as a trigger for a conversation rather than as evidence in itself. That conversation usually involves being asked to explain your own work, which is a much harder test to fail honestly than to pass dishonestly.

The corollary is worth stating plainly: whatever help you use, finish the assignment understanding it. That is the standard that survives every version of every policy, and it is the one that matters after you graduate.