AI won’t replace every job, but it will impact every job. And education is no different. As with most new technologies, we need a set of principles that can help us make our work more efficient and more effective. Here are InnerDrive’s principles for use of AI.
These eight principles can help you make the most of AI’s strengths, navigate its limitations and enhance both your teaching and your students’ learning experience.
8 Principles for effective use of AI
1. Get AI involved in your work
If you want to master a new skill, whether it’s learning French or solving differential equations, you have to engage with it directly. The same applies to AI: without incorporating it into your daily work, you won’t discover how it can support and enhance your practice. AI can perform some remarkable tasks; it can save you a ton of time, and it does creativity well, but not everything it does will be useful, and in some cases it can be a big time sink. The only way to understand what works and what doesn’t is to actively experiment with AI in various aspects of your work and your teaching. If you don’t know where to start, take a look at our blog, 7 approaches to using AI in the classroom (with prompts).
So, our first recommendation is simple: start using AI in your day-to-day tasks to see how it can (and can’t) improve what you do. Only by getting involved with AI will you understand its strengths, limitations, and if and how it can benefit you and your classroom.
2. Share your discoveries
Most technological revolutions, such as the steam engine or electricity, required large-scale resources and were implemented from the top down (driven by leaders or institutions). But AI is different. It’s accessible to everyone, and it’s free, allowing innovation to happen from the bottom up.
As you experiment with AI, you’ll discover creative and useful ways to use it. For your school or college to really take full and fast advantage of this new technology, it is essential to share the good and the limitations with everyone. If you come up with an awesome mega-prompt that solves a problem quickly and effectively, don’t keep it to yourself – let everyone know and benefit from your discovery.
Consider creating a shared space, like a Google Doc, where you and your colleagues can document successes, challenges, and effective AI prompts for your different teaching subjects. By pooling this knowledge, everyone can learn from each other’s experiences, refining and improving how AI is used in the classrooms in your organisation.
3. Use the right tool
AI is powerful, but it isn’t an all-knowing source – it can make mistakes, has biases, and isn’t always consistent. That’s why it’s important to use the right tool for the job. If you’re frustrated because AI can’t solve a Maths problem correctly, then it’s a sign that a calculator might be the better tool. However, if you’re looking for creativity, a rough draft, or inspiration, AI excels and can save you hours, sometimes even days.
Learning when and how to use AI effectively is part of the process. Understanding its limitations and strengths will help you know when to rely on AI and when to use more traditional tools.
4. Develop your prompt craft
Crafting the right prompt is key to getting the best out of AI. While AI will evolve, right now it’s important to learn how to create good prompts that provide clear context and direction. For example, when asking AI to generate something, specify who will use the output, their background, what exactly you need, and the steps to get there. The more specific you are, the better the result will be.
Instead of asking AI vague questions like “write me a lesson plan,” provide detailed information: What are the students’ skill levels? What has been covered before? What materials should be included? The more context you give, the higher the quality of the result.
Developing prompt craft takes time, and well-constructed prompts can be lengthy – sometimes hundreds of words. But investing in this skill will greatly improve the quality of the AI’s output and make it a more valuable tool in your teaching.
5. Best sh*t draft
When using AI, the initial output you are likely to receive is what we call the “best sh*t draft.” It’s a first draft, but it’s just a rough draft. Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are language predictors. They try to predict what they think should be next based on probabilities, and so they have no real knowledge and are influenced by various biases from their training. While LLMs are great for sparking ideas and overcoming procrastination, their initial drafts are rarely perfect.
The key thing to remember is that you are in control. Don’t take the AI’s first response as the final product. It can sometimes produce errors, make things up, or include irrelevant information. Treat the AI’s draft as a rough starting point, and then refine and edit it to make it truly useful for your needs. This leads us on to our next tip.
6. Interrogate the result
After receiving the “best sh*t draft,” the next crucial step is to interrogate the result. This means digging deeper by asking questions like: What are the references? Why did it say this? Can it provide more detail on certain points? This helps refine the output to meet your needs.
Think of it as an iterative process. You start with the rough draft and then work with AI to improve it, incorporating your own expertise, knowledge, and personal touch. By interrogating the result, you turn AI’s rough output into something more polished, personalised and dare we say it – better work.
7. Use as a co-intelligence
To truly harness the power of AI, it’s important to move beyond treating it as a mere tool. Ethan Mollick, professor and author of a book on this very topic, suggests you instead use it as a co-intelligence, meaning a partner in your thinking process. Aim to treat AI as your peer. You can bounce ideas off it and ask for critiques, essentially conversing with it. This is what we call “Level 3” AI use, as opposed to the more basic “Level 1” use.
This back-and-forth, or iteration, allows the quality of your work to evolve with each interaction. By using AI as a co-intelligence, you elevate it from a simple tool to a collaborative partner, enhancing both your work and your thinking process.
8. Be the human
Always remember, you are the human in this AI partnership. Whilst AI can offer suggestions, it often produces biased or inaccurate content. You can’t simply blame AI – if you use its output, it becomes your work. If the final output that you produce is incorrect, biased or offensive, then let’s face it: it’s still your work, and blaming your AI is not going to cut it.
So, take responsibility. Critically review everything AI provides and make sure it’s accurate and fair. In the end, be the human who drives the work, manages and coordinates it, and above all ensures the quality and integrity of the final product.
Final thoughts
Incorporating AI into your day-to-day could be a game-changer, but it requires thoughtful experimentation and ongoing refinement. Following these recommendations can help unlock AI’s potential to enhance your teaching practice. Remember, AI is a tool to assist, not replace, your expertise. With the right approach, it can become an invaluable partner.
