August 20, 2025

Artificially Intelligent, Actually Useful.

A Weekly AI Update So You Don't Have To Wing It

The Great Learning Debate

With many students heading back to school, this week's newsletter brings an age-old conversation with a modern twist: Are we empowering students with the tools of their time, or are we witnessing the decline of critical thinking? History suggests we've been here before. When calculators entered classrooms in the 1970s, critics feared students would lose mathematical reasoning skills. Some say calculators freed students from computational drudgery allowing them to tackle more complex problems. Others say they lost their ability to do simple math such as calculating a 20% tip. Whichever side you're on, there doesn't seem to be a likely future without AI, so I've included a few current ideas about how to uplift society from drudgery to excellence.

Teachers designing AI solutions outperform those using pre-built tools, proving that hands-on development experience drives success better than passive training approaches

Comprehensive AI implementation across lesson planning, administration, and career guidance yields 15% reading gains and an 8% improvement in student attendance

Survey reveals massive readiness gap as 70% of teachers feel unprepared for AI while 61% of people already use tools like ChatGPT, highlighting the disconnect between usage and understanding

When Teachers Become Students - Hands-On AI Learning Delivers Results

An interesting study tracking educators across nearly two dozen California schools reveals that teachers who design their own AI tools achieve far better integration than those using pre-built solutions. Through the Silicon Schools Fund's "Exploratory AI" program, teams received just six training sessions before creating custom applications like restorative justice generators and personality-based collaboration chatbots. The research found that success depended on solving specific problems rather than pursuing "efficiency for efficiency's sake," with one key insight standing out: AI became "a core accelerator" when schools had clear instructional vision.

Key Insight: The study demonstrates that hands-on development experience is a key success metric for practical AI adoption. The Enneagram-based collaboration bot and the Restorative Practices app weren't built by technical experts; they were created by educators who understood the specific problem space. For business leaders, this suggests that training and encouraging employees to design solutions for their particular challenges may deliver better results than a top-down, corporate-led rollout.

Read EdWeek Study →

School Shows Real Results from Comprehensive AI Implementation

Bellingham's education sector is demonstrating how systematic AI adoption delivers measurable student outcomes, with schools achieving a 15% increase in students reading at or above grade level and an 8% reduction in student absences through personalized learning and targeted intervention planning. The district's comprehensive approach spans multiple areas: automated lesson planning tools, administrative systems for scheduling and attendance tracking, AI-powered career guidance platforms, and mental health support solutions—all while maintaining strict student privacy compliance.

Practical Application: With 93% of faculty expecting expanded AI use, Bellingham's approach emphasizes prompt engineering as "coding in English". The district provides professional development through university partnerships and free online courses, showing that effective AI education focuses on practical application and clear communication for both educators and students.

View Implementation Details →

The 70% Problem - AI Readiness Gap

A comprehensive survey reveals insights into AI readiness in education that mirror business challenges: 70% of teachers don't feel prepared to use AI effectively, yet 61% of people already use ChatGPT or similar tools for educational purposes. The survey also shows that 20% of students admit to using AI in ways that constitute cheating, with another 25% in gray areas, while 87% want schools teaching AI literacy as a required, rather than optional, skill.

Key Takeaway: This survey exposes the gap between AI usage and proper training in education which most likely also exists in most business environments. While 61% of people are already using Large Language Models, students, and likely employees, would like to have more formal training on its capabilities.

View Survey Results →

Quick Hits

Small Training Investments Can Offer Big Wins

CNET's review of MasterClass's "Achieve More with GenAI" series shows how a 90-minute course costing $120-240 annually delivers practical business applications including plan development, communication coaching, and visual design capabilities that directly address growing educational needs.

Improving AI Adoption Through Role-Specific Training

CEO World's case study reveals how a regional law firm increased Gen AI tool adoption from under 20% to over 85% within six months by implementing role-specific training modules, with attorneys reporting 30% efficiency gains in document drafting and administrative staff reducing routine task time by 20%.

USAA CIO: "Relentless Learners Will Create the Future"

Deloitte's interview with USAA CIO Amala Duggirala reveals how immersive training for hundreds of senior executives created a top-down cultural shift, emphasizing the importance of AI training and warning that traditional "fast follower" approaches may leave companies far behind in AI adoption.

Industry Developments

Google Offers Free AI Tutoring Access for Students

Google launched Guided Learning for Gemini 2.5, offering scaffolded learning with questions, visuals, and quizzes based on learning science research. The company is providing a free year of Gemini 2.5 Pro for students, and created dedicated links for educators to share directly in Google Classroom, positioning itself to compete directly with OpenAI's education push.

Anthropic Launches Learning Modes That Teach Instead of Tell

Anthropic introduced new "learning modes" for Claude AI that transform the chatbot from answer provider to teaching companion, using a Socratic approach with probing questions rather than immediate solutions. For developers, Claude Code offers "Explanatory" mode with detailed coding narration and "Learning" mode for collaborative problem-solving, intensifying competition in the $340 billion education technology market.

That's a wrap for this week's newsletter.

The back-to-school season is suggesting something important about AI adoption: the most successful implementations come from institutions that treat AI as a learning partner, not just a productivity tool. From California teachers designing custom solutions, to law firms achieving measurable results through targeted training, to USAA executives leading cultural transformation from the top down, the pattern is clear.

That said, the survey data should be a wake-up call for everyone: if 70% of teachers feel unprepared for AI while most people are already using it daily, your organization, your team, your partner and your child likely have the same readiness gap. So consider this your invitation to go back to school on AI. The most competitive of us will be those who master the balance between traditional learning and modern AI capabilities.

How are you or your organization approaching the learning curve of AI adoption?

Hit reply; I'd love to hear your classroom-to-boardroom insights.

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When Teachers Become Students - Hands-On AI Learning Delivers Results

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Got a project in mind?Tell us about it.

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Tell us about it.