With students returning on August 31, AI can support learning, test knowledge and check work — but school rules and responsible use still matter.
School bags, uniforms and notebooks are making their way back into homes across the UAE. This year, another question is likely to follow students into the classroom: how should they actually use AI for their studies?
Students will begin the 2026-27 academic year on August 31 under the UAE’s approved academic calendar. Artificial intelligence is also becoming an increasingly familiar part of the classroom, with AI introduced as a formal subject across UAE public schools from kindergarten through Grade 12.
But using AI for schoolwork does not necessarily mean asking a chatbot to write an essay or solve a homework problem. Khaleej Times has previously reported that approaches vary across UAE schools. Some permit supervised or teacher-led use of generative AI, while others restrict access to public AI tools or require students to use approved school platforms. Schools have also emphasised the importance of fact-checking and protecting student data.
For families preparing for the new academic year, the distinction is simple: AI can help a student understand the work, or it can simply do the work for them.
Here are five ways to keep AI on the useful side of that line.
1. Ask it to explain what you did not understand in class
Sometimes the problem is not that a student does not know the answer, but that a textbook explanation or classroom lesson simply did not click. AI can explain the same concept again using simpler language, a different example or smaller steps.
A student struggling with photosynthesis, for example, could ask: “Explain photosynthesis to me at Grade 8 level. Use a simple real-life example, then ask me three questions to check whether I understood it.”
If the explanation is still confusing, the student can ask the AI to try another approach. ChatGPT’s Study Mode and Gemini’s Guided Learning are both designed to support step-by-step learning, including asking questions rather than immediately providing a final answer.
2. Turn your own notes into a quiz
A notebook full of highlighted pages can create the impression that revision is happening, even when little information is actually being recalled. AI can turn those notes into questions instead.
Students can paste or upload their own lesson material and ask to be tested on it one question at a time.
Try this: “Quiz me on these notes with 10 questions. Ask one question at a time and do not show me the answer until I respond. At the end, tell me which topics I got wrong.”
Both ChatGPT and Gemini can use course material to generate questions, quizzes or study guides.
3. When stuck on homework, ask for one hint
There is a big difference between asking AI to solve a maths problem and asking it to help you get past the step where you are stuck. Students can tell the chatbot from the start that they do not want the final answer.
Try this: “Do not solve this question for me. Look at my work so far and give me one hint about what I should try next.”
If that does not help, ask for another hint.
For maths and science problems in particular, students can also ask the chatbot to explain why a particular step is necessary before continuing. The aim is to get moving again without removing the part of the homework that requires the student to think.
4. Make it check your work instead of writing it
Rather than asking a chatbot to produce the first draft of an essay, report or presentation, students can complete their own attempt and then ask the tool to critique it.
Try this: “Do not rewrite my paragraph. Identify the three weakest parts, explain what is wrong with them and ask me questions that will help me improve them myself.”
The same approach can work across subjects. A student learning a language can ask AI to identify grammatical errors without immediately correcting them. A maths student can submit their working and ask the tool to identify the first step where the calculation went wrong.
The first attempt remains the student’s own.
5. Find out what you actually need to revise
“Study science tonight” is a plan, technically. It is not a particularly useful one. Before creating a revision timetable, students can ask AI to test what they already know.
Try this: “I have an exam next week on these four topics. Test me first. Then create a five-day revision plan that gives more time to the topics I struggle with.”
This can turn a long list of chapters into a more targeted study plan. Gemini, for example, can generate quizzes from uploaded course material and help identify knowledge gaps, while ChatGPT’s Study Mode can review notes, create practice questions and work through incorrect answers.
For parents, that may be the simplest question to ask this school year: Did AI help my child understand the work, or did it simply finish it?
The difference may depend less on which chatbot a student uses and more on what they ask it to do.
