Teen Journey › AI & Humanity › Student Guidelines
STUDENT PROTOCOLS
The Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence
10 GUIDELINES
Purpose
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a powerful tool for learning. It can help students explore ideas, ask better questions, receive feedback, practice skills and deepen understanding. However, AI can also produce inaccurate, biased or misleading information, and it can reduce learning when it is used to do the thinking for the student.
AI is already on our doorstep. Schools need not fear it; rather, they should lead and shape how it is used. Acknowledging the use of AI is part of preparing young people for the world of work they are about to step into.
OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLE
Use AI to strengthen your thinking, not replace it.
Students are expected to use AI safely, ethically, transparently and in ways that support genuine learning.
01 Think First, AI Second
Before using AI, students should engage their own thinking first. Students should consider:
-
What do I already know?
-
What do I think?
-
What am I trying to understand?
-
What help do I actually need?
AI should be used as a thinking partner, tutor or feedback tool, not as a substitute for thinking, effort or learning.
Helpful: “Give me three questions that will help me think more deeply about this topic.”
Not helpful: “Write my assignment for me.”
02 Be Transparent
Students must be honest about when and how AI has been used. If AI has contributed substantially to an assessment, students should acknowledge its use according to the teacher’s instructions.
A simple acknowledgement may include:
-
The AI tool used
-
How I used it
-
What I changed, checked or contributed myself
Students must never present AI-generated work as entirely their own when this has not been authorised. No acknowledgement is required for spell checkers or grammar tools.
Example: “I used [name of tool] to brainstorm the structure and check clarity. The analysis and conclusions are my own.”
AI can sound confident and still be wrong. Students are responsible for checking important information generated by AI against reliable sources.
Before using AI-generated information, ask:
-
Is this accurate?
-
What evidence supports it?
-
Can I verify it somewhere else?
-
Is the source credible?
-
Could there be another perspective?
-
Is the information current?
-
Could bias be influencing this answer?
AI generates answers. Critical thinkers evaluate them.
04 Protect Privacy
Students must not enter private, confidential or sensitive information into public AI systems. This includes personal information about themselves or others, passwords, addresses, phone numbers, medical information, confidential school information, private photographs, or information that identifies another student without permission.
Students should assume that anything entered into an external AI system may not remain private.
05 Use AI to Learn, Not to Cheat
When permitted by the teacher, AI may be used to:
-
explain difficult concepts in different ways
-
generate practice questions or quizzes
-
brainstorm ideas
-
suggest questions for further investigation
-
provide feedback on a student’s own draft
-
compare different perspectives
-
help organise ideas
-
practise language or communication skills
-
identify areas requiring further learning
AI must not be used to complete assessed work when the purpose of the task is to demonstrate the student’s own knowledge, thinking or skill, unless the teacher has specifically authorised its use.
Teachers may designate tasks as AI permitted, AI limited or AI not permitted.
A simple test: Could you explain and defend every idea in your work, in your own words, if asked? If yes, you are on solid ground.
06 Keep Your Own Voice
AI should help students develop their own ideas rather than make everyone’s work sound the same. Students should question, edit, challenge and improve AI-generated suggestions.
Before submitting work, students should be able to say:
“I understand this. I can explain it. These ideas represent my thinking.”
A student may be asked to explain their reasoning, describe how they developed their work, or discuss how AI was used.
07 Respect People and Intellectual Property
Students must not use AI to bully, harass, impersonate, deceive or embarrass another person. AI must not be used to create or distribute harmful, discriminatory, sexually explicit, threatening or deceptive material.
Students must not create fake images, audio or video of another person without appropriate permission. Copyright, attribution and intellectual property requirements continue to apply when AI is used.
08 Be Alert to Bias and Manipulation
AI systems learn from enormous amounts of human-created information and may reproduce stereotypes, inaccuracies and biases.
Students should deliberately ask:
-
Whose perspective is represented?
-
Whose perspective might be missing?
-
What assumptions are being made?
-
Would another source reach the same conclusion?
Students should use AI to broaden their thinking rather than simply confirm what they already believe.
09 Teachers Set the Boundaries
Teachers will clearly communicate when AI can and cannot be used for learning and assessment. Teachers should design assessments that require students to use their own critical thinking skills, such as problem-solving, evaluating, synthesising, creating and analysing. Asking students to present their own ideas orally, without notes, is one way to test what they understand.
Students who are uncertain should ask:
“Can I use AI for this task, and if so, how?”
Using AI contrary to a teacher’s instructions may be treated in the same way as other breaches of academic integrity.
10 The Student Remains Responsible
AI does not take responsibility for what it produces. The student does.
Students remain responsible for the accuracy, appropriateness, originality and integrity of any work they submit.
Before submitting AI-assisted work, use the Pause, Probe, Prove, Position protocol:
-
PAUSE: Don’t automatically accept the AI response.
-
PROBE: Ask questions. Look for assumptions, gaps, bias and alternative explanations.
-
PROVE: Check important claims against credible evidence and sources.
-
POSITION: Decide what you think. Use evidence and reasoning to form your own conclusion.
COMMITMENT FROM SCHOOLS
Schools should not simply teach students how to use AI. They should teach students how to think alongside AI.
Technology will continue to change. The enduring skills our students need are curiosity, judgement, empathy, creativity, critical thinking, integrity and the ability to make thoughtful decisions.
AI can generate information.
AI can suggest ideas.
AI can challenge thinking.
But the thinking, judgement and responsibility must remain human.