AI Advocates

S3 E1: What Happens to Teaching When AI Knows the Answers

• Lisa Dieker • Season 3 • Episode 1

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In this episode of AI Advocates, Lisa Dieker and Maggie Mosher reflect on what it means to teach in a world where artificial intelligence is everywhere. They ask tough questions like why change and how educators should adapt when AI can write essays, solve math problems, and generate answers instantly. This episode launches a new series focused on change and challenges the idea that content delivery alone defines great teaching. Instead, it encourages deeper thinking about creativity, connection, and human purpose in the classroom. 

Key insights include:

Rethinking the Role of the Teacher: When AI can provide answers in seconds, the teacher's role shifts from information provider to learning guide and critical thinking coach.

Leading with Purpose: Educators are encouraged to ask why change matters and how they can stay focused on student growth rather than just keeping up with new tools.

Teaching Beyond Content: AI may solve problems, but it cannot replicate relationships, empathy, or personal mentorship. Teachers still play a vital role in student development.

Creating Meaningful Engagement: The future of teaching lies in fostering curiosity, creativity, and real-world relevance, not just checking off standards or automating instruction.

Staying Curious: Embracing change with an open mind allows educators to grow alongside their students and use AI as a tool rather than a threat.

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Lisa Dieker:

Welcome to AI Advocates. I'm Lisa Dieker.

Maggie Mosher:

And I'm Maggie Mosher.

Lisa Dieker:

Hey, Maggie, it's great to be in a room with you. It is nice to be together. Finally, I know not on Zoom far apart, so I think we're going to make this series about why change. And so I thought I would let you start. I think you have a question you want to pose about why change.

Maggie Mosher:

Yeah, I honestly, what does it mean to teach when AI can really write our essays, can do all our math problems, can give me answers within the switch of a button? How do I teach in a world like that? What does that look like?

Lisa Dieker:

Yeah, so it's funny, very timely question, by the way, because I'm just finishing up my semester with my students, and they will tell you that you cannot cheat with AI in my class, because my assignments don't allow that as an option. But I think what it looks like is is kind of reimagining, rethinking, reinventing how we ask students to show us what they know. And I always go back to Bloom's Taxonomy, that when you have a student do a worksheet, you're really getting basic knowledge, the lowest level of learning. And honestly, it takes you a long time to grade, and it's not very fun to grade. But if we think about what AI if we're really going to challenge students and let them use it, they're going to have to create their own thinking. So whether it's prompting, whether it's making a video, whether it's creating an image, it might come from AI, but it had to come from a different place in their brain. So that's kind of my thing, about why change.

Maggie Mosher:

And what I love, and I want you to share next is about how you changed your courses, because I think that's really amazing. But what I love, I was just in a room with 60 educators and 20 some administrators, and we were talking about how this changes, how AI changes education as a whole. And what I loved about the conversation is we're no longer knowledge based, like you said, we're not at that Bloom's Taxonomy knowledge. We're at like, application and analysis. And so it's not that they have to throw away what they're teaching. They're just changing the way in which it's assessing. And essentially, AI can help them change that. Yeah. So we had teachers in there creating their own chatbots for everything that they're teaching, so that a chatbot could help them. So they put the content and they put the assessments into the chat bot and said, Here's my content, here's my assessments, here's a rubric. This is an exemplar from last year that I really loved. This is a really bad one. Now, how do I interact with students about this? And I thought that was really fascinating and a good idea.

Lisa Dieker:

Yeah, well, and it's funny, because my mantra for a long time has been even when the internet started, and that dates me a bit. But if you can Google it, why are you teaching it? So now I think we're at a whole new level. If AI can do it for me, and again, I'll take something like mathematics. You know, it scares me. I was just talking with a great computer science friend of mine, who was, you know, saying, do we really need people to write code? And I'm like, yeah, we need people to make sure that code doesn't do bad things and we understand it. But isn't that where we were in math? Isn't that where we were in reading? Like originally, we just wanted people to read to learn information. Then the internet brought us information. Now we want people to read to understand and have their own thinking. Now we move forward to math. Math used to be right the problems on the board. Now it's conceptually. What? What do you understand about math? I think we're in the same place with AI.

Maggie Mosher:

things that was mentioned that I hadn't even thought about is what we thought AI would be like now, so we thought AI would do away with a ton of radiology jobs, because AI can essentially diagnose based on images faster than anyone and more accurate to some degree. But what did it do? It actually increased radiology jobs. Why? Because you still need the person to read the results to you. You still need the person to calm you down into you need that relational piece. Yes, is it better sometimes at diagnosing using just a screen and not any bias, sure, but I'm going to need more radiologists, because now more people are getting scans because it's cheaper. And so the one thing we thought was going to happen wasn't what happened. And I thought that was interesting. They brought it up the council, and they brought it up today at our AI luncheon at the School of Education, and both of those things I think were really important.

Lisa Dieker:

Yeah, well, and I think my last one is, you know, I don't think we should just change for change sake, but this is one of the big changes. And, you know, many of my friends, actually, my friend Jamie Basham, talks about the horse to the car. You know, did we keep riding horses? No, we went to cars. Did we keep buying encyclopedias? No, we went to the internet, and now where are we going next? I don't think we know, but I don't think jobs will disappear, because you and I both agree the human touch is there. But why should we change? Because this generation needs teachers who let them understand how to harness this new idea whether they have a disability or not, so that they can make the biggest change themselves in society. That's kind of where I'm at.

Maggie Mosher:

I agree. The last thing I'd add to it is when we're talking about AI saving us time and money, when we have that piece of essentially, I know what AI can and can't do for me to a degree, but I don't know what I don't know. And so, what I like about AI currently with the challenges and stuff, is we all agree that standardized assessment wasn't what people set it out to be. It's it's changing education in the wrong way. Do we need to make sure we're teaching what we're teaching, and do we need to make sure that our kids are learning 100% but is it actually doing that, or is it making teachers less effective and less efficient and less relational. So I was in a room yesterday where everyone was like, yes, let's do away every teacher and administrator in the building. Let's do away with state assessments we still need to measure, but let's do away with them. AI is at a place where it's given us the ability to think about doing that and to still know that we could still accurately assess the moment in a moment and get good results, but we wouldn't be taking all of this time away from good learning to prepare kids for a test. So it's exciting to think about the ways in which it is going to transform and change things for us, and then the ways we could use it really well. I'm excited some of the possibilities.

Lisa Dieker:

Well, and I think that's what this season is about, is why change? Maybe, maybe we'll have a session in there. Why not? I know we're going to talk a little bit about

Maggie Mosher:

And Money. my class, but we want to hear more about what you learned at this international conference in the discussion. But more importantly, we're gonna keep it really practical to save you time.

Lisa Dieker:

Thanks.