AI in Education: A Game Changer for Everyone
AI is transforming education, opening new doors for brainstorming, idea generation, planning, and even acting as a personal assistant. But there’s one crucial thing we must remember: AI is not always accurate. It’s up to us to use it responsibly. You might be surprised to learn that AI isn’t new. It started back in 1953! Yet, it has skyrocketed in capability, especially since the pandemic. For me, as a hearing-impaired person, AI has been a godsend. I use it in my hearing equipment, work, teaching, and beyond.
Due to my late diagnosis of hearing loss (at age 3), I lost three years of language development, which makes writing papers, proposals, and projects more work for me. Some might call it a learning disability, but that doesn’t mean I’m less capable. I just need more support, and alongside my parents and wife, AI has been an incredible assistant. Of course, I use it responsibly.
AI pulls data from billions of sources in a split second, but computers don’t make mistakes—they rely on what we feed into them. Whether it’s a social media post, website, or blog, AI processes what’s already out there. Tools like ChatGPT, Claude, CoPilot, and Perplexity always remind users that responses may not be entirely accurate, placing the responsibility on us to verify the output. Copying and pasting without thought is a misuse of AI. It’s essential to learn the art of prompting, understanding what AI is, and using it ethically.
One of my biggest concerns is that colleges are approaching AI from a position of fear, rather than understanding. Faculty and administrators are making policies based on hearsay, without truly understanding AI. In a recent roundtable discussion with college faculty, many admitted they didn’t know about AI tools like Claude, Perplexity, or MidJourney, nor did they understand prompting.
I reminded them that AI has been in Microsoft Word since the early days—those red and green squiggles for spelling and grammar checks are AI in action. AI is also deeply embedded in fields like medicine, music, and even Hollywood. The idea that AI is a recent phenomenon is misguided; it’s been quietly shaping various industries for years.
One recurring fear among faculty is that AI leads to cheating. When I trained faculty on using WebCT quizzes years ago, their first concern was that students would cheat. But as Bob Bramucci wisely pointed out, you can’t stop cheating—you can only help students understand that when they cheat, they cheat themselves. AI is no different.
My greater concern is how faculty make decisions about students’ work. Plagiarism checkers like Turnitin are also forms of AI, yet some faculty use them to unfairly penalize students. I’ve heard stories of students receiving failing grades simply because their papers were “too good” and suspected of being AI-generated. Are faculty relying too heavily on AI tools and not reading their students’ work thoroughly? It’s a dangerous path, and it undermines trust in education.
The truth is, AI will not replace teachers—people who use AI will. Educators, deans, and administrators all need to understand AI, just like they learned to use computers, Microsoft Office, and the internet. AI is a tool, and like any tool, it requires skill and knowledge to use effectively. Teachers must continue to read and evaluate their students’ work critically, using AI as a support, not a crutch.
On the flip side, we cannot hold back student success by refusing to adopt AI tools. I understand that teachers are often overworked and constantly asked to learn something new. But think of it like a cardiologist learning new surgical techniques—it’s part of the job, and it ultimately saves lives. AI has already made significant contributions in various fields, reducing death rates in medicine by 52% this year alone!
So, let’s embrace AI with knowledge. We teach our students that knowledge is power, and the same applies to teachers. Take time to learn AI, and don’t limit yourself to just one tool. ChatGPT might be the flagship, but tools like Claude, Perplexity, and Microsoft CoPilot are also incredibly powerful.
Have fun with it, too! During the roundtable, I asked AI to “write a love song about faculty learning AI in the classroom”—the results were hilarious! AI won’t replace us, but we must learn it, teach it, and use it creatively in our classrooms. The future of education depends on it.
Tech & Ed Coach 