I’ve been struggling to find the right metaphor for what we’re all experiencing with AI. Then it hit me during a conversation with a student who said, “I feel like I’m drowning in all this change.”

We’re not drowning. We’re navigating rapids.

As AI Coordinator for Oregon State University’s College of Business, I spend my days immersed in these technologies—testing new tools, developing guidelines, answering questions from faculty and students. As a senior instructor, I watch students grapple with an uncertain future, their eyes mixing excitement with anxiety. As a parent, I worry about the world my children will inherit. And what I’ve realized through all these roles is this: we’re all in the same turbulent water, trying to figure out which way is forward.

Why This Series?

The standard narrative about AI in education doesn’t match what I’m experiencing. We hear about “preparing students for the future” as if we know what that future holds. We talk about “upskilling” as if there’s a fixed set of skills to master. But the reality is messier, more human, and ultimately more hopeful than these neat narratives suggest.

Over the next six posts, I’ll be sharing reflections on what it means to teach, learn, and work when the current of change runs faster than any of us can swim. This isn’t a guide from someone who’s figured it all out—it’s a collection of observations from someone who’s in the water with you, paddle in hand, learning as we go.

What to Expect

We’ll explore a different aspect of navigating these uncertain waters:

Part 1: The Current is Strong - We’ll start by acknowledging the shared experience of uncertainty. How the traditional hierarchy of knowledge has flattened, and why that might be exactly what we need.

Part 2: Finding Your Paddle - We’ll explore how learning itself is changing when information has a half-life measured in months, not years. What does it mean to be a learner when the textbook is being written as we read it?

Part 3: Reading the River - We’ll tackle the anxiety-inducing question of career preparation. How do we prepare for jobs that don’t exist yet? How do we counsel students when the map keeps changing?

Part 4: Traveling Together - We’ll challenge the narrative of individual optimization and personal branding. What if our obsession with standing out is actually holding us back?

Part 5: Safe Harbor - We’ll identify what remains constant in turbulent times. When everything is changing, what can we hold onto? How do we create stability through human connection?

Part 6: Charting New Waters - We’ll reimagine what education and work could look like if we embraced uncertainty as a feature, not a bug. What opportunities emerge when we stop pretending to have all the answers?

Who This Is For

• Educators wondering how to maintain relevance and authority while acknowledging uncertainty
• Students anxious about preparing for careers that keep morphing
• Business professionals trying to adapt without losing their sense of purpose
• Parents concerned about preparing children for an uncertain world
• Leaders tasked with guiding others through uncharted territory
• Anyone feeling overwhelmed by the pace of change and looking for fellow travelers

A Different Perspective

Most AI content falls into predictable camps: breathless hype about productivity gains or doomsday predictions about human obsolescence. This series aims for something different—honest reflection on the messy middle where most of us actually live. Where we’re excited by possibilities but worried about implications. Where we paddle hard to keep up but know we can’t master every current.

I believe we’re at an inflection point—not just in technology, but in how we relate to each other, how we learn, and how we find meaning in our work. The individualistic “build your brand, optimize yourself” message feels increasingly hollow when we’re all struggling with the same fundamental questions.

Maybe it’s time to acknowledge that we’re on parallel paths, that your uncertainty mirrors mine, and that our best chance of navigating these rapids is to do it together. Not as experts and novices, but as fellow travelers, each bringing different perspectives to shared challenges.

An Invitation

This series is an experiment in vulnerability and community. I’ll share what I’m learning, where I’m struggling, and what gives me hope. But more importantly, I hope you’ll share too. Your questions, your experiences, your moments of clarity and confusion—they’re all part of this larger story we’re writing together.

The river is wide enough for all of us. Let’s navigate it together.

I hope you’ll join me for the journey.

This series was developed with the assistance of Claude AI as a thought partner, helping to structure and articulate ideas drawn from my experiences as an educator and AI Coordinator.

As instructional staff, many of us are exploring cutting-edge ways to integrate AI tools like custom chatbots and generative AI frameworks into our courses. These innovations can enhance efficiency, creativity, and engagement—but they also come with risks. Recent research from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon highlights a troubling trend: over-reliance on AI can erode critical thinking skills, especially when students trust outputs without scrutiny.

So, how do we strike the right balance? Here are some strategies we’ve been discussing:

• AI as a Catalyst for Inquiry: Design assignments where students must critique or improve AI-generated outputs.
• Transparency in Use: Require students to disclose how they’ve used AI and evaluate its limitations.
• Socratic Prompts: Use AI to simulate debates or flawed arguments that challenge students to think critically.

At our college, we’re piloting frameworks that combine these approaches while developing policies to guide responsible AI use. But this is just the beginning—we need collective insights!

💡 How are you using AI in your teaching? What strategies are you employing to ensure it enhances, rather than replaces, critical thinking?

Let’s collaborate and share ideas below! 👇 #AIinHigherEd #CriticalThinking

I thought I’d share some insights from a recent project I’ve been working on. It’s an interactive assignment designed to give students a taste of screening interviews, with a little help from AI. Here’s the setup:

• Students pick a job from a list (or choose their own), and the AI generates a job description.
• The AI conducts a quick three-question screening interview and provides feedback on the student’s performance.
• It even explains whether they’d be selected for the next interview and why.

I decided to test it out by choosing the role of a marketing specialist. The AI gave me a decent job description and asked me to describe a successful marketing campaign I’d worked on. I gave a vague response about a social media campaign, and to my surprise, the AI started coaching me through the process, asking for more details about the goals, strategies, and tactics. Even when I pushed back with minimal information, the AI continued to guide me, breaking down the question further and helping me formulate a better answer.

This level of interaction and coaching was not something I had initially intended, but it turned out to be a fascinating aspect of the exercise. Overall, this AI-driven interactive assignment has shown potential in providing students with valuable practice and feedback in a simulated interview setting. I’m excited to see how this approach can further enhance student learning and development.

Check out the video below to see some of the results of the AI conversation:

Watch the video

Stay tuned for more updates and insights.

When I think about the future of education, I find myself both curious and cautious. Artificial intelligence (AI) is being heralded as a transformative force across industries, and education is no exception. But is it truly the “killer app” that justifies the billions being poured into AI development? Or are we still searching for the breakthrough that will make all this investment feel inevitable?

One intriguing possibility lies in AI tutors. These systems promise to personalize learning, adapt to individual needs, and scale education in ways we’ve never seen before. But as I reflect on this potential, I can’t help but wonder: Is this the future of higher education—or just one possible path forward?

The Promise of AI in Education

AI tutors are designed to provide personalized learning experiences by analyzing student performance in real time and offering targeted support. Imagine a tutor that knows exactly where you’re struggling and can guide you through complex concepts at your own pace—available 24/7.

In higher education, this could mean:

• Personalized Support: AI systems could adapt to each student’s learning style, providing tailored feedback and resources.
• Scalability: Unlike human instructors, AI tutors can assist thousands of students simultaneously without compromising quality.
• Accessibility: Students from diverse backgrounds could benefit from on-demand support, breaking down barriers to education.

Institutions like Arizona State University (ASU) are already experimenting with AI tools to enhance learning outcomes. For example, ASU uses adaptive learning platforms to provide personalized feedback while allowing faculty to focus on mentoring students through more complex challenges.

The Role of Educators in an AI-Driven Future

While the benefits of AI tutors are compelling, they also raise important questions about the role of educators. If routine tasks like grading or answering basic questions are handled by AI, instructors could focus more on mentoring and fostering critical thinking. However, this shift prompts deeper concerns:

• Will we lose the personal connection between teachers and students?
• Do we need as many educators as we did in the past?
• What are the skillsets that educators will need in the future?
• How do we ensure that educators remain central to the learning process?

AI should augment—not replace—the human elements of teaching. The best outcomes will likely come from collaboration between educators and AI, where technology handles repetitive tasks while teachers focus on creativity, empathy, and mentorship.

Challenges and Risks

As exciting as these possibilities are, they come with risks:

• The Human Element: Can AI truly replicate the inspiration and connection that great teachers bring to their students?
• Data Privacy: AI systems require vast amounts of personal data to function effectively. How do we protect this sensitive information?
• Over-Reliance: Could students become too dependent on AI tutors, potentially hindering their ability to develop self-directed learning skills?

These challenges aren’t just technical—they’re deeply human. As we integrate AI into education, we must tread carefully to ensure it enhances rather than diminishes the learning experience.

A Work in Progress

AI hasn’t yet delivered its “killer app” for education—but it might be getting closer. AI tutors represent one possible future for higher education: a future where technology empowers students and educators alike. But whether this vision becomes reality depends on how thoughtfully we navigate these changes.

For now, I remain curious—and cautious. We’re navigating uncharted waters in education. And while AI may help us map new paths forward, it’s up to us to ensure those paths remain deeply human.

This article was developed in partnership with AI as a collaborative tool for research and organization. Together, we are exploring an AI-augmented future—one where technology supports human creativity rather than replaces it.

I have been spending time thinking about our AI infused future. As an instructor of business and entrepreneurship in Higher Education, I look at AI as a learning tool even though many think of it as a cheating tool. We are working hard on how we harness this for the betterment of our students. I am interested to see how other educators are handling it.

Right now, I have used it for a number of things in class: role play scripts for students, step by step article analysis, brainstorming. I am considering custom tutorial chatbots for learning concepts.