Teaching With AI: The Complete Guide

Facing challenges head-on in the classroom is just part of the job for many educators, and teaching with AI is no exception. 

Sure, it may have a bit of a learning curve, but teachers know better than anyone what a little guidance and practice can accomplish.

Read on to learn about teaching with AI, with practical strategies to help educators navigate AI use in the classroom.

Key Insights (TL;DR)

• Students and teachers already use AI. Many students use AI for schoolwork, and teachers report that it saves time in the classroom.
• Teachers should be familiar with AI’s limits before using it in class. Generative AI is only as good as the prompts and context teachers give it. It can also be confidently inaccurate (hallucinate) and have privacy risks.
• There are lots of ways teachers can use AI in the classroom: creating learning materials, developing lesson plans, providing student support, designing AI-friendly assignments, and identifying likely AI writing.
• Student AI use needs clear guidelines. For example, AI may be appropriate for brainstorming ideas, but not for writing entire essays.
• AI can support (but not replace) teachers. AI can support teachers by generating first drafts of lessons or ideas, but final planning/assessments are better left to teachers’ expertise.

Learn more about Originality.ai for education.

Why Teach With AI?

There are two main reasons to teach with AI: the overwhelming number of students already using AI for schoolwork, and its potential benefits for teachers in the classroom.

Many students already use AI for schoolwork

Looking at the number of students who use AI to help with their studies, we’ve officially reached the point where learning with AI is a reality.

It’s just about at every education level, too. Surveys show that many students report AI usage:

• 85% of college students
• 84% of high school students
• 62% of middle school students

How students say they’ve used AI varies from brainstorming to homework help.

Students using generative AI tools in particular present unique challenges for teachers. In one survey, 25% of higher ed students reported using GenAI to complete assignments on their behalf, and another 19% had used it to write full essays for them.

Now that many students have what’s basically a mini schoolwork helper in their pockets, educators need to adapt their teaching methods accordingly. 

Teachers can also benefit from using AI in the classroom

Perhaps the biggest benefit of teachers using AI is the time savings.

One study found that teachers who use AI tools weekly or more save an average of 5.9 hours each week, and that time savings seemed to benefit them in both their work and personal lives. Teachers reported using that extra time to do everything from providing more individualized student feedback and lessons to getting home a bit earlier to their families.

What Should Teachers Know About Teaching With AI?

Before we get into some more practical classroom strategies, it may help to clarify a few things about AI in general. 

Here are a few things teachers should know when teaching with AI:

• Generative AI works by finding patterns and generating likely responses. Tools like ChatGPT just don’t understand lessons or students the way teachers do — they can’t. They simply generate text based on data patterns and prompts.
• AI is only as good as its prompts. AI tools generate answers based on the instructions and context they’re given, meaning vague prompts can lead to vague outputs. The more details teachers give these tools (about the task’s learning goal, grade level, etc.), the better chance they have of getting the results they’re after.
• AI is often confidently wrong. ChatGPT can make its AI hallucinations and other factual errors sound convincing, but that doesn’t mean they’re right. Teachers should always verify AI outputs before using them.
• AI literacy and access should go hand in hand for students. If students are going to use AI in the classroom, they should also learn to question its output, fact-check its claims, and just generally use AI responsibly.
• Data privacy is a concern. Teachers should be careful about data usage with AI tools. Reading up on AI tool data policies and sticking to school-approved tools can help mitigate those risks.

As a side note, teachers shouldn’t feel like they’re lagging behind others if they’re still unsure about AI and how to use it in teaching. Many teachers still don’t feel confident using AI in the classroom, with one survey finding that nearly 2 in 3 teachers agree they could use more training, support, and resources to use GenAI effectively.

How Can Teachers Use AI in the Classroom?

In the classroom, teachers can use AI in all kinds of ways, from preparing lessons and materials to supporting learning and managing AI use.

Here are some of the most common ways teachers use AI to support their teaching.

Creating instructional materials

With about 53% of educators using AI sometimes or often to create instructional materials, this is probably one of its most common classroom applications.

Not only do GenAI tools like ChatGPT make it easy to create a first draft, but teachers also get the chance to review and adjust its content before it reaches students.

Teachers can use AI to support first drafts of teaching materials, like: 

• Worksheets
• Quizzes
• Reading passages
• Discussion prompts

As long as teachers have a general idea of what they want the resource to cover, AI can help them get from a blank page to a first draft fairly quickly.

Developing lesson plans

Another common way teachers use AI is to develop lesson plans, with 52% saying they use it for this purpose sometimes or often. 

While teachers should ultimately be in charge of what and how to teach their students, AI can certainly help at different stages of the lesson-planning process.

• In the early stages, a teacher may use AI to help them turn a learning objective into a rough lesson outline. If they already have one in place, they may ask AI for relevant activity ideas to help move the students from explanation to practice. 
• Maybe they get to the final stages and need a few suggestions on simplifying a concept, or checking student understanding at the end of the lesson. 

AI can help with lesson planning in ways that save teachers time without taking over.

Providing more customized student support

Perhaps one of the more exciting ways teachers can use AI is to provide more targeted support for different student needs. Teachers probably know better than anyone that not all students learn the same way or at the same rate, which is why differentiated instruction matters.

The challenge here, though, is that they often don’t have the time to create individual, tailored instruction and assignments for each student's needs.

AI changes that. When it comes to customizing student support, teachers can use AI to help:

• Adapt instructions and activities for students who could use the extra support, or create more challenging versions for those a little farther ahead
• Generate more practice worksheets or questions for those having difficulty with specific lesson goals
• Adjust reading level or format when accessibility is a consideration
• Translate or reword classroom materials for multilingual learners

The keyword here really is ‘help.’ AI can suggest tasks based on teacher prompts, but it shouldn’t make the final decision on what each student needs; that’s where a teacher’s expertise comes in. 

Designing assignments for AI use

With so many students already using AI, school teachers may want to consider how AI might fit into the work they assign and how they design assignments.

Here’s what an assignment designed for AI use may look like:

1. First, students write a rough argument for an argumentative essay in class. It could be something as simple as a ten-minute freewriting session.
   
   
2. Students can then use AI to debate the other side by asking it to generate possible counterarguments. They could read its outputs and decide which counterarguments they’d like to address in their essay.
   
   
3. The student could then revise their draft with those counterarguments in mind. After, they may ask AI to check their work with a prompt like “What’s the weakest part of this argument?” The student reads the feedback and decides what to change or ignore.
   
   
4. Finally, the student can write a reflection of the process. Did AI seem to miss the point anywhere in its feedback? Did it get something wrong about their argument? This is where students start building AI literacy and learning why you can’t just rely on a tool to produce the answer verbatim. 

In this example, AI helped challenge and review the student’s work without replacing the student’s learning process. 

The student did all of the cognitive heavy lifting: formulating a position, evaluating counterarguments, revising their draft, and judging whether the AI feedback was actually useful.

However, not every assignment is a good fit for AI use.

Maintaining transparency around AI use in student work

Since research suggests that humans struggle to identify AI text, teachers can use AI tools like the Originality.ai AI Checker to identify any text that could use a closer look. 

If a student’s writing doesn’t sound like what a teacher would generally expect from their work, AI detectors can act as a starting point for figuring out why.

The key aspect here is that it’s a starting point, and not a final judgment. 

It’s best when teachers use flagged results as a sign to review the work more closely, or start a conversation with the student about their approach to or understanding of the assignment.

That conversation can also help build AI literacy and teach students to use AI ethically. If AI played too much of a role in written work, teachers can discuss and clarify what responsible AI use looks like.

How Should Teachers Set Expectations for Student AI Use?

Since AI literacy is still a new subject for many students, teachers should set clear expectations around when they can and cannot use AI for assignments. 

This is especially true when students are missing or even just confused by school policies, as 52% of students in one report said that at least some of their courses had unclear AI rules.

A helpful way to approach this is to consider whether using AI makes sense for the purpose or learning goal of each assignment.

For example, if students need to brainstorm ideas for a project, AI can rattle off a bunch of different options. In this way, AI isn’t doing all of the thinking for them — it’s just for inspiration.

On the other hand, if the assignment is meant to assess what a student can explain, write, solve, or argue on their own, then assignment instructions should be clear about how and if AI use is permitted.

With all that said, teachers should ensure their classroom rules align with their school or district’s AI policies. 

Getting Started Teaching with AI

Teachers who are ready to start teaching with AI may find it helpful to sort classroom tasks into groups:

1. Use AI to get started. AI can help teachers save time as a support for first drafts of classroom materials or lesson outlines. Teachers can still review and adjust the result, of course, but it can be quicker than starting from scratch.
   
   
2. Use AI to support student learning. If students need different versions of the material for multilingual considerations, reading levels, or accessibility support.
   
   
3. Tasks that should avoid AI use. Some things are best left to humans. Teachers should take the lead in assessing learning. 

The general takeaway here is to use AI where it can make the work easier, but keep the most important teaching and learning decisions in human hands. 

Originality.ai can help teachers flag likely AI writing in the classroom and start conversations about responsible AI use and academic integrity. Learn more about our Moodle integration, Chrome extension, and using Originality.ai in education.

Further Reading:

• Are Colleges Using AI Detectors?
• How Do Professors Check for AI?
• Top AI Grading Tools for Teachers
• AI in Online College Education
• ChatGPT and Claude for Education

FAQs About Teaching With AI

What is the best AI for teachers?

The best AI for teachers largely depends on what teachers want to use it for. For example, education-focused AI platforms can help teachers draft lesson plans and create quizzes, while Originality.ai can be useful for maintaining transparency about AI use in the classroom.

Is there a ChatGPT for teachers?

Yes, there is a ChatGPT for teachers. It’s currently free until June 2027, and limited to verified K-12 teachers, staff members, school leaders, and district administrators. It features education-grade protections and admin controls.

Should teachers allow AI use in assignments?

It depends! If it aligns with school policy and is a good fit with a particular assignment (such as one tailored to teach AI literacy), teachers may choose to allow students to use AI for schoolwork. However, AI should only be used to support learning. Whether AI use is (or is not) permitted should also be clear in school policies or assignment guidelines, so students can clearly see when they can use it.