+ POLICY — Keir Starmer has said ministers should be able to “look every parent in the eye” and pledge that tech can cre…− POLICY — Artificial intelligence poses a “Hiroshima”-style risk to humanity if governments do not agree to curb how it…− CLIMATE — Artificial intelligence is often associated with ludicrous amounts of electricity, and therefore planet-heati…− EDUCATION — While many schools in England have banned smartphones, in Estonia – regarded as the new European education po…− EDUCATION — In a Cambridge classroom, Joseph, 10, trained his AI model to discern between drawings of apples and drawings…− EDUCATION — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently told a US podcast that if he was graduating today, “I would feel like the luck…+ EDUCATION — I disagree with the decision of lecturers to use artificial intelligence to create teaching materials (‘We co…− BUSINESS — Americans are growing worried about what artificial intelligence portends for their futures. Eight in 10 Amer…
TruaceTracing the truth around AISunday, July 12, 2026
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Education·P Space·Evidence-backed problem·Published 2026-07-12

Teacher v chatbot: my journey into the classroom in the age of AI

Two years ago, at the age of 39, I began training to be a school teacher. I wanted to teach English – to help young people become stronger readers, writers and thinkers, with a deeper connection to literature. After 15 years of working as a freelance writer and as a novelist, I felt confident that I had something to offer. But the further I progressed in my training, the more uncertain I felt. One particular question taunted me for my lack of an answer. What to do about artificial intelligence? The immediate dil…

TRV-2026-0088JournalismPermanent record — cite & verify
Teacher v chatbot: my journey into the classroom in the age of AI
The quick read

Two years ago, at the age of 39, I began training to be a school teacher. I wanted to teach English, to help young people become stronger readers, writers and thinkers, with a deeper connection to literature.

What to do about artificial intelligence? Throwing AI into the mix felt like downing a coffee in the middle of a panic attack.

Main points
  • Two years ago, at the age of 39, I began training to be a school teacher.
  • I wanted to teach English, to help young people become stronger readers, writers and thinkers, with a deeper connection to literature.
  • After 15 years of working as a freelance writer and as a novelist, I felt confident that I had something to offer.
Problem

AI rejectionists shared horror stories of students handing in AI-generated papers about which they couldn’t answer the simplest questions, or citing nonexistent sources their chatbots had “hallucinated”.

The rundown

After 15 years of working as a freelance writer and as a novelist, I felt confident that I had something to offer. But the further I progressed in my training, the more uncertain I felt.

Sources

The debate