What Are the Rules for Good vs. Bad AI Use?

The line between good and bad AI use doesn't require a complicated rulebook — it largely comes down to the same everyday ethics we already apply in other contexts.

Good uses of AI: looking up something you don't understand, using it as a study aid, getting writing ideas from AI and then rewriting them yourself, checking foreign language expressions, working through a programming bug together with AI.

Uses to avoid: entering other people's personal information into AI, copying AI-generated text and submitting it as your own work, using AI to create or spread misinformation, trying to generate content that would harm others.

A simple gut-check for children: "Would I be comfortable showing this to my teacher or parent?" If not, don't do it. Even for things that pass that test, ask "Did I think for myself?" Those two questions handle the vast majority of cases.

The rules around AI are still evolving in society. "Right answers" will keep changing. That's exactly why talking through the reasoning — "why is this use OK, and why is this one not?" — matters more than memorizing a fixed list of rules.