You've used ChatGPT for homework. Maybe just once to check an answer. Maybe more than that. You're not alone—89% of high school and college students use AI technology for schoolwork, according to 2024 research from learning platform Quizlet.
Here's the thing: you probably know it doesn't feel quite right. You get the answer, copy it down, maybe tweak a few words. The homework gets done. But then your teacher asks you to explain it, or the test comes around, and... nothing. The information never stuck because you never actually learned it.
There's a reason for that. And there's a better way.
This article will show you the honest differences between ChatGPT (a general-purpose AI) and Ask Poppy (an AI specifically built for learning). You'll understand why one gets banned from schools while the other gets teacher approval. And you'll discover which one actually helps you pass the test, not just finish the homework.
What ChatGPT Was Built For (Hint: Not Homework)
ChatGPT is an amazing tool. It can write poetry, debug code, translate languages, and hold conversations on nearly any topic. OpenAI built it as a general-purpose language model—a tool that can complete almost any text-based task you give it.
That's its strength and its weakness for homework.
ChatGPT was trained to give you the most complete, coherent answer possible to any question. Its goal is to satisfy your request efficiently. You ask a question, it provides an answer. Task complete.
But learning doesn't work that way. Understanding a concept requires struggle, mistakes, guidance, and the mental effort of working through problems yourself. ChatGPT has no concept of pedagogy (the science of teaching). It doesn't know the difference between helping you learn and doing your work for you.
ChatGPT's default behavior is to give you the answer. And that's exactly why it's a problem for homework.
The Problem: You Got the Answer, But Did You Learn?
Let's be honest about what happens when you use ChatGPT for homework:
- You paste in the question
- ChatGPT generates a complete answer
- You copy it (maybe change a few words)
- Homework: done ✓
- Test: failed ✗
The problem isn't that ChatGPT gives wrong answers (though it sometimes does—more on that later). The problem is that getting the answer doesn't create understanding.
Imagine asking a friend to lift weights for you and expecting to build muscle. That's essentially what's happening when AI completes your homework. The work gets done, but you don't get stronger.
Research in cognitive psychology shows that the struggle of solving problems yourself is what creates learning. When ChatGPT removes that struggle, it removes the learning too.
What Ask Poppy Was Built For: Actual Learning
Ask Poppy was designed from the ground up as a homework tutor, not a task-completion tool. Every feature, every response pattern, every interaction is built around one question: "Does this help the student learn?"
The core difference is in the approach:
ChatGPT's job: Complete your request as fully as possible Ask Poppy's job: Guide you to understanding through questions and explanations
Ask Poppy uses what educators call the Socratic method—teaching through asking questions rather than giving answers. It recognizes when you're genuinely stuck versus when you're looking for a shortcut, and it responds differently to each.
The goal isn't to finish your homework faster. The goal is to understand the concept well enough that you could explain it to someone else—or answer questions about it on a test.
Side-by-Side: The Same Homework Question
Let's see the difference in action with a simple algebra problem.
Question: "How do I solve 2x + 5 = 15?"
ChatGPT's Response:
To solve the equation 2x + 5 = 15 for x, follow these steps:
1. Subtract 5 from both sides of the equation:
2x + 5 - 5 = 15 - 5
2x = 10
2. Divide both sides by 2:
2x ÷ 2 = 10 ÷ 2
x = 5
Therefore, x = 5.
To verify: 2(5) + 5 = 10 + 5 = 15 ✓
What you learn: How to copy the steps for this specific problem What happens on the test: You forget the steps, or can't apply them to a different equation
Ask Poppy's Response:
Student: "How do I solve 2x + 5 = 15?"
Ask Poppy: "Great question! Let's think this through together. First, what's our goal when we're solving for x?"
Student: "To get x by itself?"
Ask Poppy: "Exactly right! So right now, what's in the way of x being by itself?"
Student: "The +5 and the 2 that's multiplying x?"
Ask Poppy: "Perfect—you've identified both obstacles. Now here's an important question: when we have both addition and multiplication happening to x, which one do we usually undo first?"
Student: "Um... the addition?"
Ask Poppy: "Yes! We undo operations in reverse order of PEMDAS. So how would you undo the +5?"
Student: "Subtract 5 from both sides?"
Ask Poppy: "Exactly. Go ahead and do that. What do you get?"
[Student works through it...]
What you learn: The thinking process behind solving equations—which applies to thousands of similar problems What happens on the test: You can solve variations you've never seen before
The Crucial Difference
See what happened there? ChatGPT gave you fish. Ask Poppy taught you to fish.
With ChatGPT, you copy the steps and move on. With Ask Poppy, you discover the reasoning yourself through guided questions. One completes your homework. The other builds your understanding.
This isn't just philosophy—it's backed by research. Studies show that students who are guided to discover answers retain information 2-3 times better than students who are simply told the answer. The struggle of thinking through the problem yourself is what makes the knowledge stick.
Head-to-Head Comparison
| Feature | ChatGPT | Ask Poppy |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Purpose | General-purpose AI assistant | Homework tutor designed for learning |
| Goal | Complete your request efficiently | Help you understand concepts |
| Teaching Method | Gives direct answers | Asks guiding questions (Socratic method) |
| Response to Questions | Provides complete solutions | Guides you to discover solutions |
| Checks Understanding | Doesn't verify if you understand | Asks follow-up questions to ensure comprehension |
| Adapts to Gaps | Gives same level answer to everyone | Adjusts explanation based on your responses |
| Homework Completion | ✓ Fast | Takes longer (but you actually learn) |
| Test Performance | ✗ You can't explain what you "learned" | ✓ You understand and can apply knowledge |
| Academic Integrity | ⚠️ High risk—teachers can detect usage | ✓ Aligned with learning goals |
| Teacher Approval | ❌ Banned in many schools | ✅ Supports genuine learning |
| Voice Mode | Text only | ✓ Text + voice conversation |
| Detectable by AI Tools | Yes (Turnitin, GPTZero) | No—you explain in your own words |
| Cost | Free (ChatGPT 3.5) / $20/mo (Plus) | $9/mo unlimited |
| Best For | General research, brainstorming | Homework help, test prep, concept mastery |
What About ChatGPT for Other Tasks?
ChatGPT is a powerful general-purpose AI, but when it comes to anything school-related, Ask Poppy is designed specifically for learning. Here's where the tools differ:
For School and Learning: Use Ask Poppy
- Brainstorming essay topics → Ask Poppy guides you through the thinking process, not just list ideas
- Explaining concepts → Ask Poppy uses Socratic questioning to build deep understanding
- Generating practice problems → Ask Poppy creates problems AND walks you through solving them
- Summarizing texts → Ask Poppy helps you understand key themes and make connections
- Debugging your work → Ask Poppy identifies where your thinking went wrong and guides you to the solution
Ask Poppy does all of these better because it's built for education. It won't just give you what you asked for—it'll make sure you understand WHY and HOW.
For Non-School Tasks: ChatGPT Works Fine
- Creative writing for fun (stories, poems)
- General research for personal projects
- Coding projects (not homework)
- Planning events or trips
- Generating ideas for hobbies
The key difference? If it's for school or learning, Ask Poppy is the better tool. If it's for general productivity or creativity outside of academics, ChatGPT works fine.
When You Actually Need Ask Poppy
Ask Poppy is designed for the moments when you need to understand, not just complete:
1. You're Stuck on Homework Not "stuck" as in "I don't want to do it." Stuck as in "I've tried for 10 minutes and don't understand how to approach this."
2. You Need to Prepare for a Test ChatGPT can give you answers to practice problems. Ask Poppy helps you understand why those answers are correct—which is what you need for the actual test.
3. You Want to Actually Learn, Not Just Finish When your goal is understanding (so you can pass the test, move on to harder material, or actually use this knowledge), Ask Poppy's teaching approach is what you need.
4. You're Using AI, But Ethically If you want homework help that your parents and teachers would approve of—help that builds your skills rather than undermines them—Ask Poppy was designed for exactly that.
5. You Learn Better by Talking Ask Poppy's voice mode lets you have a conversation about concepts, explaining your thinking out loud. This verbal processing helps many students understand better than text alone.
6. You Keep Getting Wrong Answers from ChatGPT More on this in the next section, but ChatGPT sometimes gives confident-sounding wrong answers. Ask Poppy's responses are designed to guide correct understanding.
The Hidden Problem: ChatGPT Makes Mistakes
Here's something many students don't realize: ChatGPT sometimes confidently gives you completely wrong information. This is called "hallucination" in AI—when the system generates false information as if it were true.
Research has documented this problem extensively:
A study in 2024 found that ChatGPT's GPT-o3 model incorporated hallucinations in one-third of a benchmark test—double the error rate of the previous version
In analyzing research proposals generated by ChatGPT, researchers found that out of 178 references cited, 69 did not have a DOI, and 28 did not exist at all
Students reported specific cases like ChatGPT giving wrong character analysis of sisters in Pride and Prejudice, getting both their sequence and characteristics incorrect
When asked analytical questions, ChatGPT has been documented citing sources that either don't exist or don't say what ChatGPT claims
The worst part? ChatGPT states these errors with complete confidence, making them hard to catch unless you already know the correct answer.
One student quoted in research put it bluntly: "If students get wrong answers too often from the AI, they will stop trusting it to help with homework." Hallucination is one of the two major reasons students abandon ChatGPT (the other being limited or unhelpful answers).
Ask Poppy, built specifically for education, uses different architecture and guardrails designed to minimize incorrect guidance. And because Ask Poppy teaches through questions rather than assertions, errors are easier to catch and correct in real-time.
The Academic Integrity Question
Let's address the elephant in the room: Is using AI for homework cheating?
The answer depends on how you use it.
Using AI to DO Your Homework = Cheating
If you use ChatGPT (or any AI) to:
- Write your essays
- Solve your math problems
- Answer your homework questions directly
- Complete assignments without understanding
Then yes, that's cheating. You're submitting work as your own that you didn't actually do.
Using AI to HELP You Learn = Studying
If you use AI to:
- Understand concepts explained in class
- Get guidance on approaching problems
- Check your understanding with practice questions
- Learn through Socratic dialogue
Then no, that's studying. That's what tutors have always done.
The test: Can you explain your answer? If your teacher asks you to walk through your thought process, can you do it? If you used ChatGPT to write your essay, you can't. If you used Ask Poppy to understand how to write a thesis statement, you can.
What Schools Are Saying
The landscape has evolved significantly:
New York City Public Schools—the first major district to ban ChatGPT—reversed their ban after four months, recognizing that outright prohibition wasn't viable
89% of students report using AI for school as of 2024, up from 77% the previous year, according to Quizlet research
Most schools haven't banned ChatGPT, and many are shifting toward "AI literacy" approaches that teach appropriate use rather than prohibition
Teachers increasingly report that they can detect ChatGPT-generated work, and detection tools like Turnitin and GPTZero are widely used (though with ~90% accuracy, meaning innocent students sometimes get flagged)
The emerging consensus? Schools are moving away from bans and toward teaching students to use AI responsibly. That means using it as a learning tool, not a replacement for learning.
Why Teachers Can Tell When You Used ChatGPT
Multiple detection systems exist:
1. AI Detection Software Tools like Turnitin, GPTZero, and Originality.AI scan text for patterns typical of AI writing. They're about 90% accurate for fully AI-generated text, though accuracy drops if students paraphrase or mix AI with human writing.
2. Your Writing Doesn't Match Your Voice Teachers know your writing style. If your essay suddenly sounds like a professional academic paper when you normally write like a high schooler, it's obvious.
3. You Can't Explain Your Work When a teacher asks "walk me through how you got this answer" or "explain this thesis statement," and you can't, that's a red flag.
4. Inconsistent Knowledge If you can cite complex theories in your essay but can't answer basic questions in class, teachers notice.
5. Specific Tell-Tale Signs ChatGPT has patterns: overly formal language, certain phrase structures, lack of personal voice, too-perfect organization. Experienced teachers recognize these.
If You Use Ask Poppy
You won't have these problems because you actually learned the material:
- You can explain your reasoning in your own words
- Your understanding is consistent across written work and in-class performance
- Your writing reflects your learning journey, not an AI's writing style
- There's nothing to "detect" because you did the work—Ask Poppy just guided you
Can You Use Both Together?
Yes, actually. Here's a smart approach:
Use ChatGPT for initial research or context
- "What are the main themes in The Great Gatsby?"
- "Give me an overview of photosynthesis"
- General background information
Switch to Ask Poppy for actual learning
- "Help me understand why the green light symbolizes Gatsby's dreams"
- "Walk me through how plants convert light energy to chemical energy"
- Deep understanding of concepts
Use ChatGPT to generate practice material
- "Create 5 practice problems about balancing chemical equations"
Use Ask Poppy to learn from that practice
- Work through those problems with Ask Poppy's guidance
- Understand why answers are correct, not just what they are
The key: ChatGPT provides information, Ask Poppy provides understanding.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can teachers tell if I used ChatGPT versus Ask Poppy?
Yes. If you used ChatGPT to write your work, detection software can often identify AI-generated text patterns. More importantly, if you can't explain your work when asked, teachers know you didn't actually do it.
If you used Ask Poppy to learn the material, there's nothing to detect—you explain concepts in your own words because you genuinely understand them. Teachers can tell the difference between a student who copied an AI-generated essay and one who learned with AI guidance.
Will my school allow me to use Ask Poppy?
Most likely, yes. Ask Poppy functions like a tutor—it guides your learning rather than completing assignments for you. It's aligned with academic integrity policies in the same way that getting help from a parent or tutor is acceptable.
That said, every school has different policies. If you're unsure, ask your teacher: "Is it okay if I use an AI tutor that asks me questions to help me learn, rather than giving me answers?" Describe Ask Poppy's Socratic method, and most teachers will approve because it supports genuine learning.
Is Ask Poppy worth paying for when ChatGPT is free?
If your goal is to finish homework quickly without learning, ChatGPT is sufficient (though you'll fail the test).
If your goal is to actually understand material, pass tests, and build knowledge that lasts beyond the assignment due date, Ask Poppy is worth it. Consider the cost: $9/month for unlimited tutoring versus $50-100/hour for a human tutor. Even one hour of tutoring per month pays for Ask Poppy for five months.
Plus, Ask Poppy is available 24/7, works in both text and voice modes, and never gets frustrated when you ask the same question multiple ways.
Can Ask Poppy help me write essays like ChatGPT can?
Ask Poppy won't write your essay for you (that would be defeating the purpose). But it can help you:
- Develop your thesis statement
- Organize your argument structure
- Identify gaps in your reasoning
- Improve specific paragraphs through questioning
- Practice explaining your ideas clearly
The result is a better essay—and more importantly, an essay you actually wrote and can defend when your teacher asks about it.
What if I just need a quick answer and don't have time for a Socratic dialogue?
Be honest about what you're asking for. If you genuinely need a quick fact check ("Is the capital of Australia Sydney or Canberra?"), ChatGPT works fine.
But if you're asking "What's the answer to #5 on my homework?" because you don't want to think through it, you're not doing yourself any favors. That question will show up again on the test, and then what?
Ask Poppy's approach takes a bit longer in the moment but saves massive time later when you don't have to relearn everything for the test.
Can both ChatGPT and Ask Poppy make mistakes?
Yes. All AI systems can make errors. The difference:
ChatGPT sometimes "hallucinates"—making up facts, citing sources that don't exist, or confidently stating wrong information. Because it gives answers directly, these errors can slip by if you don't know enough to catch them.
Ask Poppy guides you to think through problems, which means errors are more likely to be caught during the dialogue. If Ask Poppy asks "Does that make sense?" and something feels off, you can explore it together. The teaching approach creates a natural error-checking process.
Both should be used with critical thinking. If an answer seems wrong or doesn't make sense, question it.
The Bottom Line: AI That Does vs. AI That Teaches
ChatGPT is designed to complete tasks. Ask Poppy is designed to build understanding. Both are AI, but the difference matters enormously for your education.
Here's a simple way to think about it:
ChatGPT is like having someone else do your pushups for you. The task gets done, but you don't get stronger. When test day comes (the "competition"), you're not prepared.
Ask Poppy is like having a personal trainer. They don't do the pushups for you—they guide you through proper form, motivate you when it's hard, and help you build the strength you need for competition day.
Both involve AI. Only one builds your capabilities.
The Real Test (Literally)
Still not sure which to use? Ask yourself this question:
"If my teacher asked me to explain this in my own words right now, could I?"
If you used ChatGPT to generate an answer you copied, the answer is no.
If you used Ask Poppy to learn the concept through guided questions, the answer is yes.
That's the difference. And that difference shows up on every test, in every class discussion, and in your actual understanding of the world.
Make the Right Choice for Your Learning
You can keep using ChatGPT for homework. You'll finish assignments quickly. Your homework completion rate will look great.
And then test day comes, and you'll stare at questions you can't answer because you never actually learned the material. You'll wonder why studying (reading over ChatGPT's answers) didn't prepare you.
Or you can choose to actually learn. To struggle with problems, ask questions, make mistakes, and build genuine understanding. To use AI that teaches you to fish rather than just giving you fish.
Try Ask Poppy free and see the difference. Ask it the same homework question you were about to ask ChatGPT. Notice how it responds with questions instead of answers. Pay attention to how you start thinking through the problem yourself.
Then, when your teacher asks you to explain your work, watch how easily you can do it. Because you actually understand.
That's the difference between AI that does your homework and AI that helps you learn.
Ready to stop copying answers and start building understanding? Try Ask Poppy free—ask the homework question you're stuck on right now and experience the teaching approach that actually prepares you for tests.
Your future self—the one sitting in the exam hall—will thank you.