Introducing The AI Educator Brain: EdBrAIn

Can you believe it’s only been a year and a half since OpenAI and ChatGPT took us by storm? Or maybe that’s just my stance because I spend a good portion of my work in the digital world. When it first launched, I recall laughing with my neighbors in their backyard as they fed ChatGPT funny questions or got it to rewrite something that included as much education and work jargon/vomit as possible. 

Human Prompt:

Write a very short toast to celebrate the end of the school year that uses the words solutioning, circling back, deliverable, re-up, parking lot, goal setting, utilize, regardless, process, grading, measurable and attainable.

ChatGPT Response:

Here's to the end of another school year, a moment of celebration and reflection. Let's toast to the art of solutioning, circling back to reinforce our knowledge, and delivering remarkable work. As we re-up our determination, let's utilize goal setting to guide us through the process of growth, regardless of the challenges we face. With measurable and attainable targets, let our achievements shine brightly, as we embrace the rewards of grading and the satisfaction of attaining our goals. Cheers to our accomplishments and the exciting journey that lies ahead! 

Artificial Intelligence: Here to Stay

Fast-forward to 2024: artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies are here, whether we like it or not. As the director of AFT’s Share My Lesson, I’ve spent the last year immersing myself into the AI world both to understand how it can help our work on Share My Lesson and with a focus on how generative AI impacts education and teaching and learning more broadly.

AI in Education

I’ve made a point to attend various conferences over the year, focusing on AI-related sessions. I’ve sought out conferences for educators and, more important, non-educator-related events to see how other industries are thinking about using AI. A recent conference on social media marketing, for example, provided a treasure trove of AI-related data and resources that are making my brain spin with ideas on how lessons learned from how I can use AI in marketing can help educators and society more broadly.

But first, I needed to try out these handy new AI tools on a willing educator to see if I could adapt the AI tools to an education space.

Enter my husband, Hendrick, a 25-year veteran teacher of 12th-grade IB English, who is as patient as a toddler with a new toy—especially when hearing about my latest AI powered teaching skills and strategies. Persuading him to dip his toes into the AI waters was like pitching a cat on the benefits of swimming. But, ever the adventurer, he finally caved with an eye roll and a "this better be good."

Within minutes, I set ChatGPT up to review his grading style, giving his new AI companion his rubric to review. We then uploaded a paper he'd already graded; and voila, ChatGPT’s grade was one point away from my husband’s original grade. The astonishment on his face was something to behold—like he'd just discovered that his coffee could grade papers, too. "Wait, it actually works?" he exclaimed, half expecting the computer to sprout legs and dance off the desk. 

This AI adventure wasn't just a family affair; it also swept up friends and colleagues in its techno-tidal wave. Picture this: Sari Beth Rosenberg and I, fresh from our SXSW EDU panel, found ourselves in the heart of the music scene in Austin, Texas. There we were, surrounded by the pulsating beats of live music, but what really got our hearts racing? AI in education. Yes, in a scene straight out of a education technology enthusiast's dream, instead of swaying to the tunes, Sari Beth and I were practically doing the robot dance in excitement, brainstorming our latest brainchild: the AI Educator Brain. There we were, two #AINerds, inadvertently choreographing a dance routine that was more binary than ballet, all in the name of education innovation.

We were so excited about our new AI Educator Brain that we met the next night to try and figure it out, even filming ourselves creating a lesson on the spot within seconds.