Educators Get Shamed. Tech Gets Funded.

For the last two years, we’ve been flooded with headlines about students “cheating” with AI—and how educators need to outsmart them.

Now? The script is flipping.
University students are going after Universities for professors for using AI.

It’s whiplash.

Meanwhile, I recently attended a Go-To-Market Summit for business professionals—completely outside the education world—and guess what I saw?

They were racing to leverage AI.
Celebrating it.
Building with it.

No shame.
No finger-pointing.
Just strategy, urgency, and innovation.

And it hit me: education is a space where using AI still comes with guilt.

That realization led me to write this ↓
(A message I couldn’t keep in the drafts any longer.)

I’m so over it.

The real shame isn’t that students or teachers are using AI.
It’s that the gaslighting continues in education.

We’re told this is all about altruism:
🧠 Students are here to learn.
🍎 Teachers are here to teach.

But the truth?

Students are trained to chase grades.
Educators are burdened with impossible expectations.
And both are navigating a system that says:
“Do it faster. Do it better. Do it all.”

Meanwhile, the workforce and society celebrate optimization.
That’s the lesson we’ve all absorbed: efficiency is everything.

So students optimize to pass.
Teachers optimize to survive.

But here’s the irony—
The expectations of education and the actual process of learning?

They go directly against optimization.

Learning is slow.
It’s messy.
It requires reflection, feedback, and time.

So when AI enters the chat?
It doesn’t destroy education.

AI isn’t the problem—it’s the catalyst.
It exposes the cracks in the system and where our values truly reside.

And while educators get shamed, other industries get standing ovations for using the same tools.

And that’s… a shame.

This is exactly why Teaching with Machines leads professional development that centers teacher and student voice in the AI conversation.

We don’t teach tech for tech’s sake.
AI isn’t the end goal—it’s the tool.
We help educators reclaim time, restore agency, and reconnect with the joy of their profession while uplifting, celebrating, and recognizing the professional expertise that’s always been theirs and help discover what that looks like in this modern world.

☕ Want to talk more about AI in Education or PD for your school?

Whether you’re just curious about using AI in your role and wanting to chat, or looking to bring meaningful professional development to your school—I’m here for you.

Let’s chat. No pressure. Just real conversation.
☕ Grab a free 1:1 coffee chat with me here:
👉 https://tidycal.com/merissa/twmcoffeechat

Or email me at [email protected] and visit www.teachingwithmachines.com

We got this!

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I love reading your feedback, it helps me design effective solutions for others. I respond to all my emails. Just hit reply to this email. Rooting for you and your students! Love, M.

Beep. Boop.