Is it ethical to use AI for research paper help?

[Amanda]

I've been wrestling with this question a lot. AI tools are everywhere now. Some professors say "never use it." Others are designing assignments around it. So what's actually ethical?

I found this CUNY assignment that tackles exactly this question . They have students use ChatGPT to help formulate research questions, but with strict ethical guidelines:

Ethical uses of AI for research:

• Brainstorming ideas and angles you hadn't considered
• Getting feedback on clarity and specificity
• Suggesting refinements to your own work
• Helping you see gaps in your thinking
• Generating alternative phrasings or approaches
• Practicing critical evaluation of AI output

Unethical uses:

• Having AI write your question (or paper) for you
• Submitting AI-generated work as your own
• Using AI without understanding or evaluating its suggestions
• Relying on AI to replace your own thinking

The key word is "collaborative" — you're the driver, AI is just a passenger suggesting routes . You still decide where to go.

The assignment process:

1. Student drafts their own research question first (crucial!)
2. Student asks ChatGPT for feedback and suggested refinements
3. Student critically evaluates AI suggestions using the FINER criteria
4. Student revises their question, incorporating only what makes sense
5. Student reflects on the process — what they learned, what AI helped with, what AI missed

The reflection part is important. One student wrote: "AI helped me see that my question was too broad, but its suggestions were also too generic. I had to combine the AI's structure with my own knowledge of the topic."

What I'm learning:
AI is a tool, like a calculator or Google. Using it isn't cheating — but letting it do the work for you IS cheating. The difference is whether YOU are still thinking.

My new approach:

1. Think through my topic and draft my own question
2. Ask AI: "Here's my research question. How could I improve it?"
3. Look at the suggestions with a critical eye
4. Keep what's helpful, ignore what's not
5. Write down WHY I made my final choices

This way, I'm still learning, still thinking, still in control. AI is just helping me get unstuck.

Anyone else have thoughts on ethical AI use?