Teachers continue to grapple with the impact of AI tools on student learning and on their own practice without a unified or settled position on AI tools yet emerging in online educator communities.

Educators identify writing instruction as the pedagogical area most urgently impacted by tools like ChatGPT. They exchange ideas for supporting the development of students’ writing and thinking skills. Educators express varied perspectives about the value of AI tools designed for teachers, with some seeing them as a threat to the profession and others embracing the efficiencies they bring. 

Sample Educator Conversations:

  • The teaching of writing skills feels most urgently threatened by the rise of LLMs like ChatGPT. 
    • Teachers note the importance of needing “a robust and flexible writing practice that works without AI,” and the need to “model time for decision and revisions.” 
    • Teachers oppose the idea that AI tools can be integrated into students’ writing practices before they have mastered writing and thinking skills.
  • Teachers grapple with the value of AI in supporting their own practices, with many resistant to AI tools for educators.
    • Teachers wonder, “When will they replace all the teachers with bots?” and note that teachers unions should add “protective language” to teacher contracts in anticipation of AI disruption. 
    • Some teachers feel that the use of AI to replace teachers’ roles is a bigger concern than students leveraging AI for assignments. One teacher notes, “More/faster is not better,” and another claims some SpEd teachers rely on ChatGPT to design accommodations that may not fully serve students as well as truly teacher-created accommodations.
  • Others value the potential of AI tools to add efficiencies and value to their work and want to “lead by example” for students. Some express excitement about how it can make the profession “more manageable.” 
  • Teachers closely monitor the evolution of school and district AI policies and student AI practices.
    • Some teachers report that students are relying on AI less than anticipated. Teachers say, “I have hardly caught any students using AI,” and students lean on AI “more than I’d like, but they’re demonstrably inputting their own critical thinking and words.” One teacher notes, “We’re at peak hype.”
    • Teachers compare notes about if and how they detect student AI usage in writing. Ideas include inviting students to handwrite their first assignment and comparing future typed assignments to the first. One teacher cautions, “Don’t use AI detection software; give students opportunities to talk about and revise their writing.” Several refuse to spend time attempting to identify assignments written by AI, noting that this is “above my paygrade” or “I got into teaching to teach, not to cop.” One notes, “It’s one more thing on teachers’ plates: policing, training, etc.”