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Background. Software engineering is a sociotechnical discipline in which teamwork is central, even as AI tools are integrated into professional and educational practice. While prior research has primarily examined AI as an individual productivity tool, we know little about how software teams position AI within collaboration. Aims. Drawing on boundary work theory, we explore how students integrate AI into project-based software engineering teamwork and how they construct boundaries between AI and human collaboration. Method. We conducted a qualitative multiple-case study across seven software engineering courses, collecting interviews (n = 27) and reflections (n = 89) from 116 students. Results. Students construct explicit human–AI boundaries within software engineering teamwork. They draw complementary boundaries, using AI to support individual preparation and thereby improving the conditions around collaboration, and competitive boundaries, actively excluding AI from interpersonal aspects of teamwork that they reserve for humans, grounded in concerns about accountability, trust, and relational value. We found no evidence in students' accounts that they perceived AI as a co-evolving collaborative partner. Conclusions. We argue that students actively construct AI as infrastructural support rather than as a social collaborator, thereby preserving human responsibility, empathy, and trust within software engineering teamwork. These findings contribute to emerging discussions on human–AI collaboration and the evolving role of software engineers in this era.