According to a recent Pew Research poll, just 6% of U.S. public-school teachers think AI tools do more good than harm. In other words, nearly every educator I meet worries that things like ChatGPT will hurt student learning. I've heard the same concern everywhere I've run workshops this past summer.
When I kick off a session on using AI to speed up lesson planning and enrich units, I always start by showing ChatGPT in action. Most teachers have never tried it before. First, I ask for a fresh essay. Then I have it rewrite the essay in Shakespeare's voice, then Eminem's, and finally as a reluctant eighth-grader trying to dodge a five-paragraph assignment. The looks on their faces say it all—even the most skeptical can't help but smile.
If you haven't tested it yourself yet, give it a spin. You'll be amazed.
1. The Cheating Concern
After the demo, we talk through what happens when every student has instant access to this power. The Pew poll results ring true: teachers fear more cheating, less critical thinking, and a slide into laziness. Those worries are totally valid—if we keep teaching exactly the way we always have.
Imagine a seventh-grade prompt like "What caused the American Revolution?" A student could copy that into ChatGPT and get a full essay. A savvy teacher might spot odd vocabulary—until the student tweaks the prompt to "Write like a seventh-grader," throws in intentional typos, and suddenly the AI essay feels indistinguishable from a real student's work. Left unchecked, AI tricks students into skipping the real thinking and practice we want them to get.
2. Why Banning AI Won't Work
AI is free, mobile, and already on students' phones. We banned calculators back in the 1970s, only to see them everywhere by the 1990s. AI isn't going away either. Banning it in class is a band-aid; once students leave the school building, they'll use it on every assignment anyway. If we want them to grow critical thinking, resilience, and integrity, we must change the work itself.
3. A New Approach to Assignments
Make AI-proof tasks. Ask students to connect lessons to their own lives or communities. AI can't replicate personal insights.
Design real-world projects. Instead of a textbook report, have students collect water samples from a local river, analyze pollution, and draft a petition to clean it. Suddenly the work matters—and AI alone can't pull it off.
Fuel authentic motivation. When students see clear purpose in their work, they're less tempted by shortcuts. Service-based, project-based, and hands-on assignments build true engagement.
4. Teaching Responsible AI Use
We're just at the start of the AI era. It's like the Wright Brothers' glider—a glimpse of something that will one day change everything. Banning AI forever? Futile. Worse, it robs students of learning how to use a tool they'll need for life and work. Instead, let's teach them to:
- Discuss ethics. Hold classroom debates on when AI helps and when it harms.
- Clarify concepts. Show students how to ask AI to explain hard ideas in simple terms or give analogies.
- Verify information. Assign research projects where AI finds sources, then students fact-check them.
- Solve real problems. Use AI for data analysis on projects—like designing a dog park—or to manage group tasks.
5. Moving Forward
AI is here to stay—as powerful and pervasive as the internet itself. But it's still a tool, not a replacement for creative thinking, real-world experience, or the human connection teachers provide. Rather than fight it, let's embrace AI where it helps, build assignments that demand human insight, and guide students to use these new tools wisely. That's how we prepare them for a future where AI and human ingenuity work hand in hand.