Check 1
What is an ethical decision?
Ethics are principles people use to judge choices and responsibilities.
Lesson 6: Create with Integrity: Ethics, , and Original Work
Step 6.11 of 6
Step 6.1 · Start here
AI can help people draft text, write code, make images, and summarize information. But people must still make important legal, workplace, and ethical choices. AI-made content is not always free to use or fully original. It may also break , , or workplace rules. You must check the source, , and rules before using or sharing it.
In this lesson, you will learn about , fair use, public domain work, licenses, ownership, credit, and honesty about AI use. You will review school and workplace examples. You will decide whether someone has , how to give credit, when to explain AI use, and what action is fair.
💡 Big Question and Core Rule
Big Question: How can people use AI to create and share work in a fair and legal way? How can they respect , follow license rules, and show their own original work?
Main Rule: Respect the rights of creators and be honest. Check , give correct credit, and explain AI use when required. Make sure a person's own work guides the final result.
🧠 Memory Phrase: Verify rights. Give credit. Disclose AI. Own the outcome.
🛡️ Use the Responsible AI Routine
Use this pathway whenever AI may support a task.
When to use this routine
Use it before AI supports a school, workplace, or personal task, especially when information, safety, fairness, or other people may be affected.
Your next move
Study the five steps in the image. Choose one step you think is easiest to forget and explain why it matters.
Goal → Protect → Use → Check → Own
- Goal: What creative, academic, or workplace product is being developed?
- Protect: What copyrighted material, trademarks, or proprietary content must be protected from improper use?
- Use: Is the input content licensed, public domain, or approved for use within AI tools?
- Check: Does the AI-assisted work require proper , license compliance, or safeguards?
- Own: Has the AI usage been clearly disclosed, and is a human creator taking full ownership of the final work?
🎯 Learning Goals
By the end of this lesson, students can:
- Explain , , original work, credit, trademarks, and honesty about AI use.
- Distinguish fair use, permissive licensing, public domain, and restricted commercial use.
- Identify potential intellectual property, , and concerns in AI outputs.
- Write clear source credits and AI-use statements that follow school or workplace rules.
- Evaluate a scenario to choose an ethical and legal path for using AI-supported work.
✅ You will show success by: identifying legal/ethical limits of AI outputs, writing accurate source attributions, disclosing AI assistance properly, and justifying an ethical workflow for content creation.
⏱️ Pacing at a Glance
| Lesson Step | Time |
|---|---|
| 6.2 Connect & Learn: Who Owns AI Work? | 9 minutes |
| 6.3 Learn: , Licensing, and Public Domain | 7 minutes |
| 6.4 Learn: and AI | 6 minutes |
| 6.5 Apply Your Learning: Ethics & Ownership Challenge | 15 minutes |
| 6.6 Show What You Know: IP, , and Human Ownership | 13 minutes |
| Total | 50 minutes |
📚 Key Words to Know
Legal Protections & Rights
: Legal protection for original work created by people and saved in a tangible form. It gives owners specific rights over how work is used.
: Approval to use, copy, change, upload, or share someone else's work or information.
: A word, name, symbol, or design that identifies where goods or services come from. Logos or branding similar to existing trademarks create legal concerns.
Ethics &
: The use of your own ideas, choices, and creative work instead of copying someone else.
: Naming the creator and source of work you used and following credit rules in its license, terms, or professional requirements.
: Clearly explaining when, why, and how AI helped create the final work.
Step 6.2 · Learn and check
Connect & Learn: Ethics and Human Responsibility
Estimated time: 8 minutes
Responsible AI Routine: Goal → Protect → Use → Check → Own
Scenario
A marketing student asks AI to make a logo that looks almost exactly like a famous brand. The student sends the first result to a real client without checking it or saying that AI was used. When questioned, the student says, “AI made it, so I am not responsible.”
Respond to yourself:
• Who could be affected by this decision?
• Whose work, identity, or reputation may be involved?
• Who must take responsibility for checking and approving the final logo?
▶️ Your next move: Watch for one ethical question to ask before using AI-created work.
📖 Your next move: Continue with the short reading and examples below.
Ethics are principles people use to decide what is right, fair, and responsible. AI can help create useful work, but it cannot accept blame or make moral choices. People choose the goal, data, prompt, and final use.
An ethical review starts with the people who may be affected. Ask who may benefit, who could be harmed, and whose point of view may be missing. Then check . Did the creator allow the work, image, or idea to be used? Did the person allow their data to be used? Finally, identify who must check the result and make the final decision.
A fast or polished AI response does not remove human responsibility. Students, workers, schools, and employers must follow rules, fix problems, and stop harmful uses. In this lesson, focus on the creator’s purpose, , review, and final decision. Do not ask only, “Can AI do this?” Also ask, “Should we use it this way?”
Source Foundation
Last Updated: August 4, 2026
Check 2
Which questions belong in an ethical review of an AI-supported creation? Choose all correct answers.
Ethical review considers effects on people, permission, and accountable human authority.
Check 3
A student says, “AI made the logo, so I am not responsible for what happens.” What is the best response?
People remain responsible for checking, approving, and using AI-assisted work.
Step 6.3 · Learn and check
Learn: and in AI-Created Work
Estimated time: 8 minutes
Responsible AI Routine: Goal → Protect → Use → Check → Own
▶️ Your next move: Watch for one reason to check before using AI-assisted content.
📖 Your next move: Continue with the short reading and examples below.
protects original work created by people and recorded in a form that can be seen, heard, or saved. This includes writing, art, music, photos, video, and code. Before using material, identify its source and check the , license, contract, or terms. Make sure you are allowed to upload, copy, change, or share it. rules can be complex, so ask a qualified adult when the answer is unclear.
AI can make source and rights questions harder. Training data may include work created by people. Users may upload material they do not have to share. An AI result may also look similar to existing work. Similarity alone does not answer every legal question, but it is a reason to pause, investigate, and revise or replace the material before sharing it.
Important Current Guidance: Using AI does not always remove protection. A person's writing, design choices, or major changes may still be protected. Work made only by AI is usually not protected, and a prompt alone may not show enough human work. Follow current school, workplace, and rules.
Student rule: Do not assume AI output is free to use. Identify the source, check and license terms, add meaningful original work, give required credit, and follow school or workplace rules. Ask a qualified instructor, supervisor, or responsible person when the answer is unclear.
| Key Term | What It Means in Practice |
|---|---|
| or License | Explains whether material may be used, changed, or shared and what rules must be followed. |
| Gives credit to the original creator and source as required by the license, terms, or professional rules. | |
| AI-Use Disclosure | Explains how AI helped and what meaningful work a person completed. |
💡 Essential Reminder:
Giving credit does not replace . Explaining AI use does not replace crediting outside sources.
Real-World Scenarios in Action:
- Unacceptable Use: A student uses AI to make an entire graphic. The student makes no changes, submits it as original work, and does not explain that AI was used.
- Responsible Use: A student asks AI for logo ideas. The student redraws and edits one idea in design software. They credit the source of the idea and explain how they used AI and changed the design.
🛑 Stop & Reflect:
Before moving on, think about this question: If AI makes an outline but you write the essay, do your class rules require you to explain how you used AI?
Source Foundation
Last Updated: August 4, 2026
Check 1
A Creative Commons icon requires the creator’s name, source link, and license name. What should a student do?
Responsible reuse follows the license and provides the required creator, source, and license information.
Check 2
Which statement matches U.S. Copyright Office guidance on AI-assisted work?
Copyright analysis focuses on meaningful human-authored expression, selection, arrangement, or modification.
Check 3
An AI-generated image closely resembles an existing artist’s work. What is the safest next step?
AI output should be checked for source, permission, policy, and possible similarity before publication.
Step 6.4 · Learn and check
Learn: Create Responsibly with AI
Estimated time: 8 minutes
Responsible AI Routine: Goal → Protect → Use → Check → Own
▶️ Your next move: Watch for one way a creator should explain how AI helped with a project.
📖 Your next move: Continue with the short reading and examples below.
A responsible creator uses AI as an assistant, not as a hidden replacement. AI may help list ideas, suggest a structure, or give feedback. The person must add meaningful ideas, choices, writing, design, code, skilled work, or revision. The person should also be able to explain the final decisions.
Do not ask AI to copy a specific artist, classmate, company, or brand. Instead, describe the features you need, such as a calm tone, clear labels, or a simple layout. Asking for the exact style of a living artist raises ethical and professional concerns about . It is not automatically a violation. A logo that looks too much like an existing brand may also create concerns.
Check the final work before using or sharing it. Compare important text, images, code, and claims with trusted sources. Search for close matches when needed. A search is only one check; it does not prove that the work is original, allowed, correct, or safe. Remove copied or unsupported parts, fix mistakes, and keep notes or drafts that show your own work.
| Responsibility | What It Explains / Accomplishes |
|---|---|
| AI-Use Disclosure | Explains how the AI tool helped with the creation process. |
| Source | Credits outside creators and materials referenced or used. |
| / License | Decides whether outside materials may be legally used or modified. |
| Human Contribution | Explains the important choices, changes, and checks completed by a person. |
💡 Essential Reminder:
Each creator responsibility is separate and important. Clearly explain how AI helped and follow all specific rules from your teacher, school, client, or employer.
The PAUSE Creator Check
P — Purpose, People, and Reason: What is being created? Why is AI being used? Who may benefit, and who could be harmed, left out, copied, or misled? What role should AI have?
A — Authorization and Rights: Who created or owns the source material? Where did it come from? What , license, contract, or terms apply? Is the planned use allowed? Does the user have to upload it?
U — Use AI as an Assistant: What meaningful ideas, choices, writing, design, code, or skilled work will a person add? Can the creator explain and support the final decisions?
S — Search, Check, and Strengthen: Check the facts, safety, sources, rules, and possible copied material. Change, replace, or reject anything you cannot confirm.
E — Explain, Credit, and Evaluate: Credit allowed sources correctly. Provide a separate AI-use disclosure. Identify the human work, choose Approve, Revise, or Reject, and name the person with final authority.
Real-World Scenarios in Action:
- Unacceptable Use: A student asks AI to copy the style of code from a developer's private online project. The student submits the code without changes, says it is all their own work, and does not mention using AI.
- Responsible Use: A student asks AI for layout ideas, then changes the design by hand. They use a reverse image search to look for close matches. They also explain how AI helped with the project.
🛑 Stop & Reflect:
Before moving on, think about this question: Why can a search not prove by itself that AI-assisted work is original and ready to share?
Source Foundation
Last Updated: August 4, 2026
Check 1
A student is creating a workplace safety handout with limited AI assistance. Put the actions in the most responsible order.
Choose the steps in order, from first to last.
A responsible process begins with purpose and rules, then creation, human revision, verification, documentation, and approval.
Check 2
Match each situation with the creative responsibility that is missing or being addressed.
Permission, attribution, and AI-use disclosure serve different purposes and may all apply.
Check 3
Which actions improve an originality review? Choose all correct answers.
Independent source comparisons and similarity searches strengthen an originality review.
Step 6.5 · Practical application
Apply Your Learning: Responsible Creator Review
Estimated time: 15 minutes | Complete / Incomplete
What you will do: Audit one workplace creation with the PAUSE routine.
What you need: The worksheet and one scenario below.
What you will submit: All five PAUSE responses, the Source and Rights Record, a source-credit statement, an AI-use disclosure, and a Green/Yellow/Red decision.
Start here: Make a worksheet copy, then choose one scenario.
🎯 Step 1: Your Role & Objective
You are part of a workplace content review team. Your job is to audit a workplace creation, complete a short Source and Rights Record, write a source-credit statement and an AI-use disclosure, and issue a final approval decision based on evidence.
📥 Step 2: Download Your Worksheet
Click the button below to make a copy of the official PAUSE Creator Review Worksheet to fill out during this activity.
📄 Make a Copy of the PAUSE Review Worksheet📋 Step 3: Choose One Scenario to Audit
Select one of the following real-world workplace scenarios to evaluate on your worksheet:
| Scenario Target | Situation Description |
|---|---|
| Option A: Training Handout | A coworker makes a staff training handout. They write their own text and give credit for a Creative Commons icon. They also use AI to create an outline, make major changes to it, and explain how they used AI. |
| Option B: Promotional Graphic | A designer submits an ad with stock artwork. The designer did not record the image license or check whether the image may be used for business. |
| Option C: Marketing Blog Post | An intern uses AI to write an entire blog post. The intern says a person wrote all of it. They do not mention AI or check the facts. |
📤 Step 4: Submit Your Completed Worksheet
Complete every part of the worksheet. This includes the source record, credit statement, AI-use statement, and final decision. Then submit the assignment to your course.
- Allowed Formats: PDF, word-processing file, or shareable document link.
- Grading Criteria: Complete / Incomplete (All 5 PAUSE categories filled out thoroughly with clear justification).
🔒 Privacy Reminder:
Never enter real student, client, patient, customer, employer, account, or case information into your worksheet or AI prompts.
Source Foundation
Last Updated: August 5, 2026
Step 6.6 · Lesson assessment
Show What You Know: Ethics, , and Original Work
Your place in this lesson is saved automatically on this device.