From the Director of Innovative Pedagogies

The Honour and Martyrdom of Not Using AI

Last week I was part of a planning day with some school staff as we looked at the next months and years at Blue Mountains Grammar School. One of the big items on the agenda was how we leverage AI to our advantage. The conversation moved quickly to the possibilities brought about by AI, but also the murky waters it sits in, including the accuracy of what it generates, privacy concerns and the impact on student and adult learning. One staff member raised some metaphorical eyebrows about AI, joking that it ‘just feels like cheating.’ The analogy was drawn that ‘using AI is like using a forklift in a gym. The outcome is achieved, but who (or what) did the heavy lifting?’

Which brings us to the philosophical question of ‘is there honour in not using AI?’

In my opinion, some parts of AI are nothing new, in that it is simply a research and productivity tool. Before AI we would use search engines to find information and before that we would use encyclopedias and non-fiction texts etc. Yes, AI generates specifically and can respond and revise its responses, but on a base level, just as students of previous generations would copy directly from the encyclopedia, or copy and paste from the internet, so it is so with AI. It is information being presented to the reader, and how they use it is up to them.

In all these cases, the issue is the source of the information, the skills learnt, and who did the work – did the students do the thinking and the work, or is it just lifted from somewhere else? Has the information been referenced correctly? How have students evaluated information for truth and usefulness? How have they combined different sources to develop their ideas? I am aware the conversation around AI is more nuanced than this, but I hope you see my broad point: We need to teach students how to use information sources well, regardless of whether it is a book, encyclopedia, journal article, website or AI. We need them to value doing the work and wrestling with the hard slog of incremental improvement. We don’t want students getting to a point of dismissing the value of the grind. 

AI tools such as ChatGPT, Grammarly, and AI-assisted research platforms offer incredible opportunities, and it is misplaced martyrdom to ignore or dismiss them. To fall on our sword and take a position of aloofness puts students and staff at a disadvantage. As the technology advances, so does the context of learning, and as the leaders of learning, we must adapt also. This includes our attitudes and what constitutes ‘good teaching.’ The risk of dismissing AI, particularly large language models, such as Gemini and ChatGPT is that in the name of purity and nostalgia we do not build the skills needed for future years. 

We have seen the introduction of laptops into classrooms, as well as universal access to the internet. We have survived the shift to Learning Management Systems like Google Classroom and SchoolBox. It seems foolish to reject these now, and AI, whether it is to help with lesson preparation or cutting down administration, is no different. 

Christopher Sanders

Director of Innovative Pedagogies