Group projects are as much about coordination as content: splitting work, keeping track of decisions and pulling everyone's pieces together. AI tools can help you plan tasks, summarize meetings, share research and draft the final presentation — as long as the group agrees on how AI will be used and everyone does their own share.
Check your course's AI policy before your group uses AI on graded work. Agree as a group on how you'll use AI and make sure it fits your instructor's policy. Get everyone's consent before recording meetings, and remember that each member is responsible for the work submitted under the group's name.
How to Do a Group Project with AI, Step by Step
1
Agree on goals and AI rules
Review the assignment together and agree on what AI use is allowed for your project.
2
Split tasks and set deadlines
Set up a shared task board in Notion with owners and due dates for each piece.
3
Meet and capture decisions
With everyone's consent, record meetings with Otter.ai or Notion AI Meeting Notes and share the summary and action items.
4
Share research in one place
Collect sources in a shared Notion page or a Zotero group library, and use Gemini Notebook to ask questions across the group's sources.
5
Draft your own sections
Each member writes their part in their own words and cites their sources.
6
Combine and edit
Merge sections, make the voice consistent and check every fact and citation together.
7
Build and rehearse the presentation
Turn your outline into slides with Gamma or Canva, then rehearse as a group.
Recommended Group Project Tools
Prices and features as of November 2026 — check the official site for current details
#1
Notion
Best for: shared task boards, notes and deadlines
Notion is a workspace for notes, docs, databases and task lists, which makes it useful for group projects and tracking case deadlines. Students and educators with an eligible school email get the Plus plan free, but on Free and Plus, Notion AI features are a limited trial. Full Notion AI requires the Business plan ($20/member/month billed annually) or Enterprise.
Why students use it:
Free Plus plan for students
Shared pages and task boards for group projects
Notes, tasks and docs in one place
Downside: Full Notion AI isn't included in the free student plan, and it takes time to set up a workspace that works for you.
#2
Otter.ai
Best for: recording and summarizing group meetings
Otter.ai records audio and transcribes it live, then produces summaries and searchable transcripts you can ask questions about. Its mobile app can record in-person lectures, and it can join Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls. The free Basic plan gives 300 minutes a month but caps each recording at 30 minutes. Otter Pro costs $16.99/month or $8.33/month billed annually, with 1,200 minutes a month and 90 minutes per conversation, and students with a .edu email get 20% off Pro ($79.99/year).
Why students use it:
Live transcription while you record
Mobile app for in-person lectures
AI summaries and chat about your transcripts
20% student discount on Pro
Downside: The free plan's 30-minute limit per conversation is shorter than most lectures, and transcripts can garble technical terms, names and accented speech — always review them.
#3
Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM)
Best for: asking questions across the group's sources
Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook in July 2026. You upload your own sources — documents, readings, PDFs — and it answers questions using only those sources, with inline citations that jump to the exact passage. It can also turn your sources into quizzes, flashcards and audio overviews. The free plan allows up to 100 notebooks with 50 sources each, and higher Google AI plans raise those limits. Google is offering eligible US college students a free year of Google AI Pro if they redeem by December 31, 2026 (a payment method is required and the plan renews automatically).
Why students use it:
Answers stay grounded in the sources you upload
Citations link to the exact quote
Makes quizzes, flashcards and audio overviews from your readings
Generous free plan
Downside: It only knows what you upload, and Google itself notes it can make mistakes — it can't judge a source's context, bias or authorship the way a historian does.
#4
Gamma
Best for: turning the group's outline into slides
Gamma is an AI presentation maker that generates slides from a prompt, pasted outline or imported PDF or PowerPoint file. The free plan includes 400 one-time AI credits at sign-up (they don't refresh), up to 10 slides per prompt, and export to PDF, PowerPoint, PNG and Google Slides. Paid plans add monthly credits: Plus includes 1,500 credits a month, up to 100 slides per prompt and removes the "Made with Gamma" badge; Pro includes 4,000 credits a month and premium image models. Annual billing costs 28% less than monthly; see Gamma's pricing page for current prices.
Why students use it:
Fast first drafts from your own outline
Exports to PowerPoint and Google Slides
Free plan to try it
Downside: Free credits are one-time and run out, free decks carry Gamma branding, and no student discount is listed. Generated text can be generic, so you'll need to rewrite it.
#5
Grammarly
Best for: making the final paper read consistently
Grammarly (now part of the company Superhuman) checks grammar, spelling and tone as you type in Google Docs, Word, your browser and its apps. The free plan includes corrections, 100 AI prompts a month, Authorship — which records what you typed, pasted or generated so you can show your writing process — and a Citation Finder agent that can insert up to 5 APA, MLA or Chicago citations a day. Grammarly also offers AI agents such as Reader Reactions and AI Grader, though some agents require a paid plan. Pro costs $12/month billed annually and adds 2,000 AI prompts a month, full-sentence rewrites, a plagiarism checker and an AI detector.
Why students use it:
Works inline wherever you write
Free Authorship reports to show your writing process
Plagiarism checker and AI detector on Pro
Downside: It isn't built for researching or drafting from sources, the 50% student discount is only a limited-time offer, and monthly billing for Pro costs more than annual.
Frequently Asked Questions
Notion keeps tasks and notes in one shared place, Otter.ai records and summarizes meetings, Gemini Notebook helps with shared sources, and Gamma speeds up slides.
It depends on your instructor's policy. Agree as a group on what's allowed, and remember that everyone is responsible for the final submission.
Only with everyone's consent, and in line with your school's rules. Share recordings and summaries only with the group.
Talk with them early, check it against the course's AI policy and, if needed, raise it with your instructor. Each member's work affects the whole group.
Students with an eligible school email get Notion's Plus plan free, which is useful for shared group workspaces. Full Notion AI requires a higher plan.