ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Le Chat: AI assistants are now part of daily life for many pupils. They explain, summarise and correct, and they can also write homework for them. For parents, the question is a practical one: how can AI become a learning aid rather than a shortcut that gets in the way of learning?
AI at school: where does Belgium stand?
AI reached pupils’ schoolbags faster than the rules did. Pupils use it at home for their homework, and many teachers already use it to prepare their lessons. Official frameworks are being put in place step by step.
- Wallonia-Brussels Federation (French-speaking education): a reference document, « Intelligence artificielle & enseignement : principes d’application », published in August 2025, gives schools guidelines: say when AI has been used, use it to learn and not to cheat, keep human control, protect personal data. These are guidelines, not regulations: each school sets its own rules.
- Dutch-speaking education: in June 2026, the Flemish Minister of Education asked the five Flemish universities to draw up a joint AI strategy for schools, with a budget of 10 million euros. General guidelines are still being prepared.
- European Union: since February 2025, the European AI regulation (AI Act) has banned systems that infer pupils’ emotions in educational institutions. Tools that assess or steer pupils are classed as « high risk », with obligations due to apply from December 2027.
In practice, what matters for your child are the rules of their school and of each teacher. The school’s study regulations define what counts as cheating, and the instructions for an assignment can allow or forbid AI. Rules can therefore differ from one subject to another: the simplest approach is to read them together at the start of the year, and to ask the teacher when in doubt.
What AI can offer a pupil
Used well, AI can become a study assistant available at any time. For example, it can:
- explain a concept again with different words or examples, when the explanation in class did not get through;
- create practice questions and quiz the pupil before a test;
- point out mistakes in a text the pupil wrote themselves, explaining the rule;
- help organise a revision schedule;
- act as a conversation partner to practise a foreign language.
In all these cases, the pupil remains the one doing the thinking. AI plays the role of a patient tutor that asks questions and checks understanding.
Its limits, to explain to your child
AI is still an imperfect tool, and pupils need to know this to use it with a critical eye.
- It makes mistakes with confidence. Assistants can invent facts, dates or references that look credible. These are called « hallucinations ». Anything used for an assignment must be checked against the course material or a reliable source.
- It does not know the class curriculum. A calculation method or a grammar rule may be explained differently from the way it is taught in class, which confuses more than it helps.
- It can do the work instead of the pupil. A summary or an essay produced by AI gives a result, but the pupil has learnt nothing. On exam day, without a screen, the gap shows.
- It collects data. It is best never to enter names, photos or personal information.
Mainstream AI assistants also set a minimum age in their terms of use, often 13, with a parent’s consent for minors. Before letting a young child use one alone, check the terms of the tool you choose.
Learning with AI, or letting AI do the work?
The most useful line to draw at home is a simple one: AI can help to understand and to practise, but it should not produce what will be graded. A few concrete examples:
- Generally accepted: asking for an explanation, being quizzed, having mistakes pointed out, looking for outline ideas to discuss afterwards with the teacher.
- Grey area: having a set book summarised. The pupil saves time, but misses exactly the reading the teacher wanted them to do.
- To avoid: handing in a text, an essay or answers produced by AI as one’s own work. Depending on the school’s rules, this is often treated as cheating.
A good habit: if AI was used for an assignment, the pupil says so, and explains how. This is what the principles published by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation recommend, and it avoids many misunderstandings.
5 tips to guide your child
- Talk about it without banning it straight away. Ask which tools your child uses and what for. An open conversation is better than hidden use.
- Try the tool together. Ask a question about a subject your child knows well, and spot the mistakes or approximations together.
- Teach your child to ask good questions. « Explain it with an example », « Ask me three questions to check I have understood »: a precise prompt turns AI into a coach for practice rather than an answer machine.
- Keep screen-free moments. Exercises done by hand, without help, remain the best test of what has really been learnt.
- Watch for the signs. Perfect homework but failed tests often means the work is being delegated rather than understood.
AI does not change the basics of a good study method : getting down to work regularly, searching before asking, testing yourself. These habits also apply to other screens, as explained in our article on the impact of social media on young people.
And for students in higher education?
In university colleges and universities, each institution sets its own rules on AI, often course by course. Before an assignment or a thesis, read the instructions and the exam regulations: some institutions ask you to declare the use of AI, others restrict it.
AI can help you rephrase a concept, prepare revision questions or proofread a text. It does not replace the understanding the exam checks. To build a solid method during the revision period, see also our 5 tips to study and pass your exams.
The role of a coach in the age of AI
An AI answers what it is asked. A coach notices what the pupil does not dare to ask, adjusts the explanation by watching their reactions, and helps build a method that holds up on exam day.
At My Sherpa, an educational advisor chooses a coach suited to your child’s needs, for private tutoring at home anywhere in Belgium or online. The coach can also help your child use AI wisely: turning it into a revision tool, checking what it produces, and keeping personal work at the centre.
