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Can I Use AI to Help Me with School?

by Harry F. Sanders, III and Crissa Esse on Dec 01, 2025

It is so easy to create something with AI. Type in a prompt and click a button, and it spits out what you want in seconds.

It feels cool to create things you couldn’t create before. Of course, what you made might have serious flaws. The people in the picture might have six fingers, the video might morph wildly between images, and the poem might get some facts wrong. But the rush of creation without the labor still feels awesome.

What should you do with your creation? Can you turn in your awesome AI-generated painting-style sunset image as an art project submission? Can you take the essay AI wrote about the skull’s bones and hand it in to your science teacher?

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Know and Follow the Rules

This is a complicated topic because different schools have different requirements. For example, you may be able to submit your sunset image to your school’s art contest if the contest accepts AI art. And your history teacher may allow you to use AI for research purposes or for spotting grammar mistakes. However, it is unlikely that any teacher will allow you to submit a 100% AI-written essay.

It’s important to read each class’s rules carefully and ask questions if you have them. If there are no rules about AI use, assume it is not allowed or ask your teacher.

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Be Open and Honest

Regardless of what the rules allow, you need to be completely open and upfront about your use of AI. You cannot submit your AI-generated sunset image untouched and claim you made it. That would be a lie.

But what if you have to write a paper for a science class, like biology or physics, and it requires math? If you use AI to figure out what equations you need to use, you probably don’t need to mention using AI (depending on your teacher’s rules), because that’s just like using Google. If you use AI to do the entire math problem for you, then you should mention it, because now your results hinge on your use of AI.

Of course, this does not cover every situation. The short way to deal with the issue is this: Be honest. If there are rules, follow them, and declare any AI use upfront so that no one can make accusations against you later.

AI is a tool that may aid you in certain creative and academic endeavors. But you should never try to pass off AI-generated material as your own work.

What Does the Bible Say?

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While the Bible doesn’t mention AI directly, it does give us principles to consider when we try to answer the question, “Can I use AI to help me with school?” Here are some of those principles.

Obedience

The Bible tells us to obey and respect those in authority over us, which includes your teachers. And since your parents send you to school, they are expecting you to obey your teachers—so obeying your teachers is a way you can also obey your parents! If your teacher says you can’t use AI to help with an assignment, you should do what they say without complaining.

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. (Titus 3:1)

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. (Ephesians 6:1)

Honesty

If you use AI to write part of an essay and your teacher assumes you wrote it all yourself, you are not being honest with your teacher. You are deceiving them. If you do use AI on an assignment, you should usually make a note of how you did so. It’s wrong to take someone else’s (or something else’s, in the case of AI) work and claim it as completely your own.

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices. (Colossians 3:9)

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight. (Proverbs 12:22)

A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape. (Proverbs 19:5)

If you have lied or cheated before, ask God and your teacher to forgive you. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Hard Work

School takes hard work. Your teacher may ask you to do an assignment that takes so much time or to answer questions about a subject that is so confusing to you. In these cases, it is especially tempting to take shortcuts—like using AI when it’s not allowed. But don’t shy away from hard work! It’s how you will learn and grow. Remember, it’s better to work hard in a way that pleases the Lord and get a C− than to cheat and get an A+.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. (Colossians 3:23)

In all toil [hard work] there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. (Proverbs 14:23)

The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful [lazy] will be put to forced labor. (Proverbs 12:24)

Critical Thinking

Yes, AI can be a helpful tool. If you’re having difficulty understanding a concept in chemistry class, it may be appropriate to go home and ask AI to explain the concept in simpler terms until it makes sense. But like anything else you read or hear, you should think carefully about what it tells you. AI gets information wrong sometimes. If you’re ever not sure about something it says, compare it to what a more trusted source says, such as the Bible, your teacher, your parent, your textbook, or a more credible online source.

The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps. (Proverbs 14:15)

The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him. (Proverbs 18:17)

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