Acknowledging AI feedback in your assessment: a student's guide

There's a nervous question a lot of students are asking right now: am I allowed to use AI to check my work, and if I do, do I have to say so? The short answer is that getting feedback on your own draft is a normal, defensible part of study — but honesty about it is not optional. This is a guide to the line, and to writing a clean acknowledgement when one is expected.

The line that actually matters

There is a real difference between two things that get lumped together. Feedback on your own writing — a teacher's comments, a study partner's read, or an AI marker scoring your draft against the criteria — helps you improve work that stays yours. Unapproved AI use in assessable work is different: having a tool write or rewrite the response that you then submit as your own. The first is learning. The second, under bodies like NESA, is malpractice. If you're unsure where a tool sits, our guide to whether AI essay feedback is cheating works through the grey areas in detail.

Why acknowledgement protects you

Many schools and universities now ask you to declare any AI use, even the legitimate kind. That's not a trap — it's a safeguard. A clear acknowledgement shows you understood the boundary and stayed inside it. It turns "did this student cheat?" into "this student used a tool for feedback, kept the writing their own, and said so." Silence, by contrast, invites the worst assumption. When you're honest about the process, you're on the right side of acknowledging AI feedback honestly rather than hoping nobody asks.

What belongs in an acknowledgement

A good acknowledgement statement is short and specific. It names the tool, what you used it for, and — crucially — what you did not use it for. The examples below are models you can adapt:

• Name the tool and the task."I used an AI marking tool to check my draft essay against the assessment criteria."
• State what stayed yours."All writing, argument and analysis in this response are my own; the tool provided feedback only."
• Note what you changed."In response to the feedback I strengthened my evidence in paragraphs two and four."

Acknowledgement isn't a confession. It's a receipt — proof that the thinking on the page is yours and the tool only held up a mirror.

Check your school's own rules first

Policies vary. Some assessments ban AI entirely; some require a declared acknowledgement; some are silent, in which case honesty is still the safe default. Always read the assessment notification and your HSCor institution's academic integrity policy before you touch any tool. If a task says no AI, that means no AI — including for feedback.

Feedback you can stand behind

The whole point of good feedback is that it makes yourwork better without doing it for you. That's how Markis built: he never writes or rewrites your essay. He reads your draft against your criteria and returns a mark per criterion with the quoted line as evidence, so you can see the weak spot and fix it in your own words. Mark, fix the lowest criterion, re-mark — and if a declaration is required, acknowledge that you used a marking tool for feedback. That's a process you can put your name to.