Last week, I had a problem in my French 2 class.

The T’es Branche textbook, which was at least 10 years old, didn’t mention streaming services like Netflix and Apple TV in our unit on television programs. It only included the major networks like TV5 and Canal+, which young people no longer watch. What should I do? Write a short reading myself? Do research on Google to find an article students would understand, one that wasn’t too complicated or too easy, and included comprehension questions? Or use the reading from the book, even though students would find it dated and boring?

Maybe, just maybe, I should trust AI to make my work light.

So, during a professional development session on AI, I sought Claude 2’s expertise. I downloaded the free app, then typed the following prompt “Create a reading in French for high school students about French TV and streaming services.” Within seconds, it spewed out facts about this topic, magically telling me about the popularity of streaming services in France and teens favorite shows.

Then, it was on to comprehension questions. No problem for Claude to write out ten that made sense to me–with no grammatical errors. Way to go Claude!

It was easy to copy the reading into a Google Doc and post it on Google Classroom. Within twenty minutes, I had the basis for a great lesson. Add an EdPuzzle, Kahoot or Blooket, and a short speaking and listening activity, and I was done.

I left the professional development session thinking it was the best one I’d had in years. AI was the wave of the future–it had the power to make tasks much less cumbersome as it drew on an ocean of material on the web, synthesizing it, and creating assignments that would have taken me hours to complete. It was like a genie, making what was one impossible, possible. But, I did worry about how students would use it.

They could easily cheat on writing assignments or research projects by simply telling Claude 2 to complete the work for them. They wouldn’t learn anything–except how to formulate prompts to obtain from AI exactly what they wanted.

But I don’t believe AI will destroy our world, nor save it.

Adults will have to manage this genie and make sure it helps, not hinders, students in their obtaining knowledge and developing critical thinking skills. Teachers will be the ones to vet programs such as Khanmigo, a learning platform that monitors the time students spend online, and Prometheus, a create of virtual worlds.

No matter what, AI is here to stay. We cannot ignore it. We cannot pretend that it doesn’t exist for teachers and students. It certainly can make tasks easier and less time consuming, like creating a reading in French on streaming services. Teachers have enough to do in class, helping students reach their full potential. Certainly, we deserve a helping hand from AI.