Unless you cite the source, submitting academic work created by artificial intelligence or by someone else (even if the author is unknown) is an academic integrity violation.
Even if you use that source or tool "a little bit" or to help you create an outline, you need to cite it. Without citing the copied work, you misrepresent work that did not originate with you as your own.
Even if you use someone else's work or technology tools to get an outline or sequence of ideas, using that information without citing the source is conceptual plagiarism—because you have represented unoriginal ideas and concepts as your own.
It is easy for your instructors to notice when your writing differs from your typical style. If you copy either part of your assignment or the whole thing, remember to cite, using quotation marks to credit the original author's words! If you don't, the chances of an academic integrity violation are a lot higher than you might think.
Remember, instructors are looking for four different types of skills:
- You can find and identify information to meet your goal
- You can understand that information
- You can put this information together (or synthesize it) to come up with another idea
- Your original ideas are built on and connected to other good ideas.
Copying only shows that you can find and identify information to meet your goal. Often, that isn't enough for a passing grade.