Gen Z’s Guide to Using AI Without Cheating

It’s 11:30 p.m. You’re about to call it a night when panic sets in — you forgot about an assignment due in 30 minutes.

You grab your phone, open your class portal, and see the worst: it’s for English. Four pages, MLA format, works cited. You haven’t done a single minute of research. A late submission means an automatic zero.

Then you remember your friends talking about artificial intelligence. Desperate, you open ChatGPT and type: “Write me a research paper on any topic of your choosing, make sure it’s in MLA format, add a works cited page, and make sure it is four pages long.”

Fifteen minutes later, you’ve got your essay. You submit with seconds to spare.

Gen-Z is at the forefront of the AI revolution, trying to navigate how to use AI responsibly. Some of Gen-Z are choosing to use AI to cheat and coast through college. While others are using AI to help grasp concepts, take better notes, or study for exams. 

Even if you think you don’t use AI, you probably do. When you search the web, companies like Google and Microsoft now have AI summaries built into results. Avoiding it entirely is nearly impossible. That makes one question critical: How do you use AI “correctly”? Here is a breakdown on how you can use AI more effectively in your classes. 

Tailor Your Prompts 

Don’t just ask chat to “write this better”, be more specific and ask “Keep the same tone, writing style, but make it more witty. Fix grammar mistakes, check spelling errors, and give me suggestions on how to improve my writing”. Mastering how to write more specific prompts will help you achieve better results.

Subject-specific AI

Use AI tools that are tailored to specific subjects. Not many students know that there are individual AIs that specialize in one topic and give more accurate answers because that AI has been trained in a specific subject. 

AI Study Tools

Struggling to make flashcards? Just create a prompt and add supporting documents like PDF textbooks or lecture slides. Boom–now you have flashcards. You can ask AI to make quizzes on topics as well. The possibilities are endless. 

Use AI–Don’t Let AI Use You

Instead of having AI think for you, think with it. For example, asking AI to create an outline for your paper, rather than writing it for you, allows you to complete the assignment with your ideas while still feeling confident that you’re on the right track. This approach not only ensures the work is truly yours but also builds your confidence to tackle future assignments independently.

AI Learns You

By using the AI more, it slowly picks up details about you. This creates a personal experience for each user. And, as the AI learns from you, it can generate more content that uses your mannerisms, beliefs, and style of writing. 

Use AI for Job / Internship Applications

You can ask AI to take your current resume and improve it. You can have AI write you a cover letter that uses your resume and the job description. You can share with AI a linked profile or a company website, and ask AI to look up specific information that could be used to better understand the company you're applying to. At the end of the day, most employers use AI systems to scan through applicants. Just don’t use the AI to make false experiences because that will bite you in the ass during the sit-down interview. 

Now you are ready to take on the next semester feeling confident using AI to help you, not hinder you.