Teaching Students to Outsmart AI: Embracing New Approaches in Education
AI use in writing is widespread and here to stay. Educators should focus on teaching students to critically evaluate AI outputs and adapt assignments to encourage original thinking.
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love AI
Most students today will use chatbots to help with writing. This ranges from the simple task of clarifying a topic to the more problematic practice of generating complete essays. The use of AI tools has spread widely and isn't going away anytime soon.
Trying to catch every instance of AI-assisted writing is nearly impossible. AI detection tools are always behind, as chatbots continuously learn from human-generated texts. Tricks like embedding hidden text to catch chatbot use might work occasionally, but students quickly find ways around them, such as taking screenshots or carefully editing AI outputs before submission.
Social and commercial forces strongly encourage chatbot adoption. Companies like Nvidia and OpenAI have high valuations based on the expectation that AI will become deeply integrated into technology. It's no surprise that many educators and researchers already use these tools, even if we expect students not to.
Rethinking Teaching Practices
One option is to ban AI tools in assignments, but this approach is wishful thinking. Since the public release of ChatGPT in late 2022, AI has become firmly embedded in how people work. Our responsibility as educators is to prepare students for the future by teaching them to work with AI, understanding both its benefits and its pitfalls.
AI chatbots often "hallucinate" — that is, generate false or misleading information. Students need to learn to spot trustworthy versus unreliable parts of AI outputs. This skill aligns closely with traditional critical thinking, but applied in a new context. We can only teach this effectively by giving students real opportunities to engage with AI tools.
Adjusting Assignments and Evaluation
Instead of asking straightforward questions that AI can answer perfectly, assignments should challenge students in ways chatbots can’t easily manage. For example, asking students to find current news examples related to course topics encourages original thought and lateral thinking.
Grading should shift focus. Rather than correcting grammar, formatting, or structure, instructors should pay attention to tone, vagueness, and excessive use of adjectives or promotional language inappropriate for academic essays. Texts containing fabricated references or factual errors must be failed to maintain academic integrity.
Changes in technology will alter established practices. To help students prepare for their futures, educators must accept that AI is here to stay and adapt teaching methods accordingly.
For those interested in exploring AI tools and courses to better integrate AI into education and writing, resources are available at Complete AI Training.
