AI Dolls and Digital Desks: High School Teaching in 2025

Posted on by richardjamesrogers

An article by Richard James Rogers (Award-Winning Author of The Quick Guide to Classroom Management and The Power of Praise: Empowering Students Through Positive Feedback). This blog post is illustrated by Pop Sutthiya Lertyongphati.

Don’t forget to check out the full bibliography and recommended reading list at the end of this blog post.

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) used to sound like science fiction, and was once confined to the creative genius seen in movies I loved as a child, such as WarGames (1983), The Terminator (1984) and Short Circuit (1986). These days, however, it has graduated beyond the illustrious imaginations of movie directors and authors and is actually having an impact in schools: helping students write essays, solve mathematics problems, and even brainstorm ideas for group projects. Welcome to 2025, where generative AI is fast becoming an essential tool in the high school classroom. It’s also the technology behind some bizarre and fun recent trends, such as the current AI Doll image creation craze. A doll version of me, created by ChatGPT, is given below. I hope the similarity does me justice!

On a more serious note, however, generative AI has presented school teachers all over the world with some pressing challenges. It’s important to consider how we, as teachers, can use this technology responsibly and effectively. In this blog post I’ll outline some practical, classroom-friendly ideas that even complete beginners can start utilizing right away!

What is Generative AI?

Before we begin, it’s important to make the distinction between generative AI, and other forms of AI. As I alluded to earlier, AI has actually been around in various forms for quite a while. It’s what allowed me and scores of children in the 80s and 90s to play single-player computer games on systems like the Atari ST, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Sega Mega Drive (remember Sonic the Hedgehog?) and many other devices.

What’s relatively new in the AI space, and what’s caused so much debate and excitiement in the past two to three years is generative AI, which refers to algorithms that can create new content based on existing data. This includes text, images, music, and more. One of the most famous examples is ChatGPT, which can write essays, summaries, and even simulate conversations (Center for Teaching Innovation, 2023).

Rather than replacing teachers, AI is best used as a co-pilot. It can help to lighten workloads, support differentiation, and provide new ways to engage learners.

Five Practical Ways to Use Generative AI in Your Classroom

1. Boost Writing with AI Examples and Prompts

Ever had a student stare at a blank page, unsure where to start? I certainly have. Reaching such students can be real challenge at times. Generative AI, however, may be able to help you by offering writing prompts, providing structured outlines, and generating example paragraphs in various tones and styles. These can be used to help students compare good versus poor structure, or to kick-start a creative writing project (XQ Institute, 2023).

💡 Try this: Ask ChatGPT to produce an essay introduction on climate change, or any topic, then let your students critique it or build on it with their own arguments.

2. Teach Critical Thinking Through AI “Mistakes”

Generative AI can sometimes produce responses that are incorrect or subtly flawed, and that can be a gift in disguise. Use AI-generated answers with embedded errors and ask students to fact-check and edit them. This teaches critical reading, evaluation of sources, and digital literacy, all of which are key 21st-century skills (TIME, 2023).

💡 Try this: Present an AI-generated paragraph with factual errors and challenge students to find and correct them using reliable sources.

3. Differentiate Learning Materials

Students learn at different paces and levels. Generative AI can help you rephrase content in simpler language or adjust reading levels to suit English Language Learners (ELLs) or students with learning difficulties (CRPE, 2024). It is like having a personalized assistant that adapts your materials on demand. If you’re looking for additional tools to add to your differentiation toolkit, then generative AI may be just what you need!

💡 Try this: Take a science article, or an article on any subject matter, and ask the AI to rewrite it for different reading ages or to include more visual metaphors. You can do this with existing worksheets, slides, guides and other resources, too.

4. Fuel Student Creativity

Generative AI can co-create stories, invent fictional dialogue, compose poems, or help design imaginary worlds. For creative projects in English, drama, music or even business studies, it can be a brilliant brainstorming tool (Ali et al., 2023). This allows the AI system to become a ‘creation expansion’ tool that can extend and relate students’ current creative abilities.

💡 Try this: Ask students to work with AI to co-author a short story, with students editing and expanding the AI’s ideas. The prompt ‘I would like to co-author………with you’ should work well with most generative AI systems.

5. Streamline Your Workload

Let’s be honest, teaching is a really demanding job. AI can help with lesson planning, quiz creation, report card comment generation, and even drafting parental emails (Wired, 2023). It is not about replacing your voice, but about saving you time so you can focus on what matters: your students. If you’re struggling with your workload as a teacher, then you should always talk with your line manager in the first instance, as they will know the context within which you are working and will be able to best advise you. However, you may wish to experiment with AI tools too, as you may find that they will relieve you of some of the pressure created by administrative tasks.

Tip from experience: If you want to use AI to generate student report cards, then please seek the permission from your school first, as copyright/data privacy may be an issue to consider. If you are given the green light to go ahead, then check that the correct English is being used (British, or American, for example) and always double-check the reports before officially publishing them,

💡 Try this: Use AI to generate a starter activity or plenary question for a lesson. Edit as needed to suit your class dynamic.

Best Practices for Using AI in School

To make the most of generative AI while keeping things ethical and purposeful, consider the following:

  • Discuss ethical use with your students: Talk about plagiarism, misinformation, and AI’s limitations (Center for Teaching Innovation, 2023).
  • Always verify facts: AI can sound confident, even when it is wrong. Teach students to double-check.
  • Use AI as a tool, not a crutch: Guide students to be critical thinkers, not just content consumers.
  • Address access equity: Ensure all students have access to tools, especially those from underserved communities (CRPE, 2024).

Final Thoughts

Generative AI is here to stay and that is exciting. With the right approach, it can support better learning outcomes, help differentiate instruction, reduce our workload and spark joy in the classroom. The key is to use it with your students, not for them. As educators, we still provide the wisdom, mentorship, and heart that AI can never replicate.

So why not give it a go this week? Whether it is generating a debate prompt or helping a student craft their first poem, AI might just become your new favourite teaching assistant.

Bibliography and References

Recommended further reading

  1. Itransition, 2024. AI in Education: 8 Use Cases & Real-Life Examples. [online] Available at: https://www.itransition.com/ai/education [Accessed 13 Apr. 2025].
  2. Wikipedia, 2025. ChatGPT in education. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChatGPT_in_education [Accessed 13 Apr. 2025].
  3. PAGE Inc., 2024. Ethical Considerations of Using AI Technology in the Classroom. [online] Available at: https://www.pageinc.org/post/ethical-considerations-of-using-ai-technology-in-the-classroom [Accessed 13 Apr. 2025].
  4. Wikipedia, 2025. Adaptive learning. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_learning [Accessed 13 Apr. 2025].
  5. Associated Press, 2023. AI is a game changer for students with disabilities. Schools are still learning to harness it. [online] Available at: https://apnews.com/article/ff1f51379b3861978efb0c1334a2a953 [Accessed 13 Apr. 2025].
  6. The Guardian, 2025. Bridget Phillipson eyes AI’s potential to free up teachers’ time. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/31/bridget-phillipson-eyes-ais-potential-to-free-up-teachers-time [Accessed 13 Apr. 2025].
  7. Liu, L., Chen, J. and Singh, R., 2023. Implementing Learning Principles with a Personal AI Tutor: A Case Study. arXiv. [online] Available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.13060 [Accessed 13 Apr. 2025].
  8. UNESCO, 2025. Artificial intelligence in education. [online] Available at: https://www.unesco.org/en/digital-education/artificial-intelligence [Accessed 13 Apr. 2025].
  9. James Madison University Libraries, 2024. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education: AI and Ethics. [online] Available at: https://guides.lib.jmu.edu/AI-in-education/ethics [Accessed 13 Apr. 2025].
  10. Faulkner University, 2024. The Future of Learning: Positive Applications of AI in Education. [online] Available at: https://www.faulkner.edu/news/the-future-of-learning-positive-applications-of-ai-in-education/ [Accessed 13 Apr. 2025].

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Author:

High School Science and Mathematics Teacher, Author and Blogger. Graduated from Bangor University with a BSc (Hons) degree in Molecular Biology and a PGCE in Secondary Science Education. Richard also holds the coveted Certificate in Mathematics from the Open University (UK). Richard is the award-winning author of The Quick Guide to Classroom Management: 45 Secrets That All High School Teachers Need to Know