40 Questions Teacherss Should Ask Before Trusting AI
When ChatGPT drafts your lesson plan or Khanmigo answers a student's question, you need to know what you are actually trusting. Asking the right questions protects both your judgement and your students' learning.
These are suggestions. Use the ones that fit your situation.
1If a student used ChatGPT to write their essay, what part of their actual thinking can I assess from the final text?
2When I ask a student to show their working, am I checking their process or just checking whether they used AI to skip the process?
3Does this piece of work show me where the student is confused, or does it hide where they are confused?
4If I removed the AI tool entirely, could this student do any part of this task?
5When Khanmigo gives my student the next hint automatically, am I losing the moment where I would have recognised what they need to learn?
6Has this student generated output, or have they generated understanding?
7What would I notice about this student's thinking if they had to explain their answer to me in person, rather than submit a polished document?
8If my class uses AI for homework, what am I no longer learning about their independent ability?
9Does this task actually require the student to make a choice, or does AI make the important choices for them?
10How would I know if a student understood this concept but the AI output made it look like they did not?
About Assessment and Feedback
11If I use Magic School AI to generate differentiated worksheets, am I still making decisions about what each student needs, or am I outsourcing that judgement?
12Can I write honest feedback on AI-generated work, or am I commenting on what the AI chose rather than what the student chose?
13Does this AI tool show me patterns in my students' actual mistakes, or does it smooth over their mistakes with polished output?
14When Google Gemini suggests a rubric for my assignment, does it match what I actually value about learning in my classroom?
15If I mark an AI-generated piece against a standard rubric, what am I actually grading?
16Does using Diffit to create varied versions of a text help me see which students need different support, or does it let me avoid having that conversation?
17Am I assessing the student or assessing how well they prompted the AI?
18What evidence of learning am I collecting if students submit final polished work instead of rough drafts, attempts, and revisions?
19If my assessment relies on AI to mark first drafts, how will I know what my students can actually do?
20Does this AI tool give me faster feedback, or just different feedback than I would have given?
About Lesson Planning and Teaching Decisions
21When I use ChatGPT to generate lesson ideas, am I getting ideas I would not have thought of, or am I getting ideas that are average across thousands of classrooms?
22Do I still have reasons for the order I teach things, or have I let an AI tool decide the sequence?
23If Magic School AI suggests a way to explain fractions, does that explanation work for my students or for a generic student?
24What am I not noticing about my class when I spend lesson planning time reading AI suggestions instead of thinking through what I actually know about my students?
25Can I defend the choices in this lesson to parents and colleagues, or can I only defend what the AI generated?
26Does using AI for lesson planning save me time for more teaching, or does it let me avoid the hard thinking that makes teaching distinctive?
27When Khanmigo personalises a student's learning path, is it personalising based on what that student needs or based on what the algorithm thinks students like them usually need?
28If I let AI decide how to adapt a lesson on the fly, am I missing the moment where I read the room and make a real choice?
29Does this AI tool help me notice which students need something different, or does it assume the same difference works for all students?
30What part of my professional skill am I keeping sharp, and what part am I letting the AI do?
About Your Role and Professional Judgement
31If I outsource this task to AI, what will I no longer be able to do in my classroom?
32Does using this AI tool let me spend more time on the part of teaching that only I can do, or does it let me spend less time thinking?
33When I use AI to handle something I used to do, am I replacing my judgement or augmenting it?
34Can I explain to my students why I made a particular teaching decision, or would I have to say the AI decided?
35If something goes wrong with this AI output in my classroom, can I take responsibility for it?
36Am I using this AI tool because my students need it, or because it is available?
37What do I know about my students that this AI tool does not know?
38If I stopped using this tool tomorrow, what would I have to relearn about my own teaching practice?
39Does this AI tool help me teach better, or does it help me teach faster without asking if faster is better?
40What parts of my professional identity as a teacher am I comfortable handing over to an algorithm?
How to use these questions
Write your questions down before you use any AI tool with your class. A question you have thought about beforehand will protect your judgement better than one you ask yourself after the AI output arrives.
Ask students to show you their conversation with Khanmigo or ChatGPT, not just the final answer. The prompts they wrote and the exchanges that happened tell you more than the polished output.
Use AI tools to generate first drafts and rough versions, not final work. If students see final output, they learn to accept it. If they see a rough draft, they can improve it.
Block an hour a month to lesson plan without any AI tool. Notice what you think about and what decisions you make. Compare that to planning with AI. Keep the difference intentional.
When you assess work, mark up the parts that show the student's actual thinking, not the parts the AI polished. Over time, this teaches students what you actually value.