If students don’t learn how to think with AI, they’ll let AI think for them. Last Thursday at Shanghai American School, I got to "beam in" to give a keynote presentation on one of the most urgent conversations in education today: How do we integrate AI without losing what makes learning human? Here are the key takeaways from our time together: • Generative AI can amplify learning—or weaken it. Studies show that when students engage critically with AI, they learn more. But when they rely on it to do the work for them, learning declines. The key? Teach students to think with AI, not just use it. • Confidence in AI can lower critical thinking. Research suggests that when people trust AI too much, they question it less. The best educators will teach students how to balance trust and skepticism when using AI tools. • Ethical AI use starts with values. We discussed how every school needs guiding principles for AI integration—beyond just policies. What should we protect? What should we enhance? These questions shape AI’s role in education. We concluded with "Three Ts" for responsible AI use: 1. Talk – Normalize generative AI discussions with students and teachers. I shared my "Generative AI Guidelines Canvas" to support conversations. https://lnkd.in/gyjTkK7d 2. Teach – Build generative AI literacy into the curriculum. I shared Cora Yang and Dalton Flanagan's C.R.E.A.T.E. framework for teaching students to prompt. https://lnkd.in/g-KYt4Uy 3. Try – Teachers should experiment with generative AI tools in meaningful, ethical ways. I shared Darren Coxon's Hattie Bot to let teachers experiment with building lessons that have high effect size. https://lnkd.in/g44gZzA3 This conversation isn’t over—it’s just beginning. Critical thinking isn't optional if machines do the easy thinking for us. Much gratitude to Alan Preis & Scott Williams for crafting such a great experience. Photo Credit Alex McMillan 🙏 P.S. I asked everyone at Shanghai American School: What values should guide our approach to AI in education? What's your answer? #generativeAI #guidelines #teachers #ethics
If our minds can be recreated by a machine, then maybe our thinking is more robotic than we’d like to admit. And that’s a reality that shakes us right down to our human core. The unconventional thinker Jiddu Krishnamurti in the early 1980s said : “If the machine can take over everything man can do, and do it still better than us, then what is a human being, what are we?”. To him, it was a revelation with deep psychological and spiritual punch. Courtesy: https://bigthink.com/thinking/the-mechanized-mind-ais-hidden-impact-on-human-thought/
Absolutely! As a higher education researcher, I’ve been banging this same drum. AI isn’t going away, and our responsibility is to ensure students develop the critical thinking skills to engage with it thoughtfully rather than passively relying on it.
Thank you for this powerful, thought-provoking, resource rich post! I invite you to join the Human Intelligence Movement, a movement that has prioritized answering the very important question you pose: How do we integrate AI without losing what makes learning human? #hi4ai
Very insightful I do agree with three Ts, it really important to set limits and utilise AI by using positive perspective
Thank you for sharing valuable, thought provoking discussion and useful resources.
AI is based on a dehumanizing philosophy. People allowing it to think for them? That fits with the dehumanizing philosophy.
When I started Kindergarten, any kind of digital device didn't exist and the phone was stuck to the wall. By the time I left college, the beeper was a thing, cellphones were like satellite phones, computers were huge and with a black screen. During my first job, the internet and email were like the big bang! All these revolutionized the way we live and work and how we acess information and the world 🌎. We also needed to leverage these and learn and teach how to use them ethically and to improve decision-making, not make our decisions for us. AI will do the same, change the way we do things, so many things, now. So yes, let's LEARN and TEACH how it can augment, support, improve what we do today, ethically, and not lose sight that critical thinking is at the center of this learning process. AI has been here for a while, it's here to stay. The general public is having more and more access to use it, so we've barely just begun the conversation about its role in many areas of our professional and personal lives. I think it's great that we are open to have these conversations and acknowledge that we have a lot to learn and teach. Thank for sharing that "critical thinking isn’t optional."
Senior Director of Education and Content (ATLIS)
6moFantastic post, John Nash!