Does anyone else feel guilty about using AI for studying or is that just me being weird?

I use AI tools to help me study and it genuinely works better than my old methods. But I feel weird admitting it to classmates.

How I actually use it:

Perplexity when I need to understand concepts my textbook explains poorly

Claude to check if my essay arguments make sense before submitting

Nbot Ai to search through my semester notes when I forget where I wrote something

Anki for spaced repetition (not AI but part of my system)

Why it helps:

I can ask dumb questions at 2 AM without judgment

Explains things multiple ways until I actually understand

Way faster than scrolling through lecture recordings looking for one explanation

Why I feel guilty:

Worried professors think I'm cheating even though I'm just using it to understand material better

Classmates who study "the old way" sometimes judge people using AI

Feel like I should be able to figure everything out without help

Not sure where the line is between studying smarter vs taking shortcuts

What I DON'T do:

Let AI write my essays (I write them, just use it to check logic)

Use it during exams (obviously)

Copy AI explanations without understanding them

Submit AI-generated anything as my own work

The question:

Is using AI to understand material considered cheating by most people?

Am I overthinking this and it's just a tool like Google or calculators?

How do you use AI for studying without crossing ethical lines?

Genuine confusion here.

Some professors encourage it. Others act like it's academic dishonesty. Students are split.

Where's the actual line?