Much has been said about the use of AI in school.  Too much.  Is it a challenge for admins and teachers?  For sure.    Good writers get picked up as AI all the time.  If you want to avoid accusations then dumb down your work why don’t you. Some schools “ban” it while using AI Checkers to find evidence. I heard one University president mention recently if they learn your application essay was written by AI you could be kicked out – even years into your enrollment.   Duke said AI has made it too difficult to school the essays so they stopped doing it.

Here’s the hypocrisy.  You know who is using it more than students – the teachers.  So, where am I going with this?

Use AI as the Tool to Unlock Understanding

AI isn’t going away. Schools can play the cat-and-mouse game to waste time figuring out how much was written by AI but that’s foolish, especially for the long term.  Rather teachers and professors should look at embracing it.

Students are required to spit out facts to prove comprehension but face it, high schoolers will never be as good as Chat GPT at knowing the facts.  What more is to be said about The Great Gatsby that hasn’t been written?  You want your students to understand the themes they’ll recite what’s already been said.

You can use AI to unlock the understanding by personalizing it.  Your students can have a back-and-forth conversation with the chatbot to discuss the book. Give the bot any title from a professor or a ten-year-old and supply ice-breaking questions.  It’s beyond comprehending a subject but actually understanding what they read.  How does this history subject, foreign language or physics lab relate to them?  The personalization is the key to understanding anything.  Which is why it’s easier to learn Spanish in Spain than in a textbook.  At the end of the conversation, the student will copy the conversation and submit the actual chat unedited.

If you are an educator here’s how that might look:

The key to making AI-driven assignments successful is personalization. When students bring their own interests, experiences, or curiosities to the conversation, they’re more likely to demonstrate authentic learning.  You are also, ensuring a completely unique conversation with AI being the helpful partner.

Here’s how you can structure an assignment incorporating AI while allowing students to showcase their unique perspectives.

Example Assignment: The Great Gatsby

Objective: Help students connect the book’s themes to their lives.
Instructions for Students:

1. Copy and paste the following prompt into ChatGPT:
   

   “I am a student exploring The Great Gatsby. Help me reflect on the themes and characters by asking me personalized questions. Start by asking me about my own dreams, goals, or challenges and how they might relate to themes in the book. Then, guide me to connect my personal reflections to specific elements of the novel, like Gatsby’s dream of being with Daisy, the symbolism of the green light, or the idea of the American Dream. Ask me to compare my experiences with Gatsby’s decisions, obstacles, and successes. Encourage me to think critically about what I can learn from the novel that applies to my own life. Be conversational, ask follow-up questions, and help me make deeper connections.”

2. Engage in a back-and-forth conversation with the AI.
3. Copy and submit the unedited chat as your assignment.

This approach makes it impossible to “fake” understanding and gives students a voice. By discussing their own perspectives, students move beyond surface-level comprehension. Encourage the student to use voice prompting so it feels like a friendly interview.

It works for other subjects just as well.  The Civil Rights Movement is more than a list of dates and quotes it requires understanding.

Example Assignment: The Civil Rights Movement

Objective: Help students understand historical events on a personal level.
Instructions for Students:

1. Copy and paste the following prompt into ChatGPT:
   

   “I am a student exploring the Civil Rights Movement. Help me reflect on this topic by asking me personalized questions. Start by asking me what I already know about this event and how I feel it connects to current events or issues. Guide me to connect the event to my own community, family history, or personal values (e.g., how a fight for equality in the past influences rights today). Encourage me to analyze decisions made by key figures in the event and think about what I might have done differently in their position. Ask me to critically consider the long-term impacts of this event and how it shapes the world I live in today. Be conversational, ask follow-up questions, and help me think deeply about why this history matters.”

2. Have a meaningful conversation with the AI.
3. Submit the conversation along with reflections on the experience.

Why This Works

• Personalization: Students connect lessons to their lives.
• Engagement: AI makes learning conversational and dynamic.
• Originality: Each conversation is unique and unrepeatable.

Students don’t love to write and this is a workaround. Perhaps you can have them write about the conversation or add further insight.  After all, students do need the ability to put sentences together.

Experiment with it.  I find that voice technology from Chat GPT amazing and use it to learn all sorts of things.  Is AI the tool for reversing the education decline in the US and elsewhere? Only if we don’t ignore it.