Remember when helping with homework meant looking through an encyclopedia or heading to the library?

Today, your child or grandchild can ask artificial intelligence (AI) to explain a math problem, suggest ideas for an essay—or even write the essay for them.

That leaves many families wondering: What’s actually allowed?

According to Genie Teacher, Canada doesn’t have one national set of rules governing students’ use of AI. In Ontario, there isn’t a province-wide policy either. Rules can vary between school boards, schools, teachers and even individual assignments.

So, start by asking your child what their teacher allows.

More importantly, talk about the difference between using AI to learn and using AI to avoid learning. AI can be helpful for explaining a difficult concept, brainstorming ideas or providing feedback. But having it do the work and submitting that work as their own is another matter.

One simple test? Ask your child to explain their homework in their own words. If they understand it, great. If they can’t, AI may have done a little too much of the heavy lifting.

AI isn’t going away. Helping young people learn to use it thoughtfully and responsibly is probably the best homework we can give ourselves.

By Daria Horbal, BSc. Phm.