Written By: Danielle Jeffers, VP Workforce Innovation

I Used to Be Very Anti-AI. And Then AI Showed Up Anyway.

Let me start with a confession:
I did not want to like AI.

I was firmly in the camp of “robots are stealing our jobs,” “students will stop thinking,” and “I will be living off-grid when the machines take over.” Dramatic? Yes. Accurate to my feelings? Also yes.

But here’s the thing about the future—it does not wait for us to feel comfortable.

AI didn’t ask for my permission. It just… arrived. In classrooms. In workplaces. In job descriptions. In emails written suspiciously faster than mine.

And once I got past the initial resistance (and a few deep sighs), I realized something important: being anti-AI doesn’t protect our students. Being uninformed does.

The Job Market Has Changed (Whether We Like It or Not)

AI is already reshaping how work gets done. Not someday. Now.

Employers are using it to streamline tasks, analyze data, write drafts, generate ideas, and move faster than ever before. That doesn’t mean humans are obsolete—but it does mean the definition of “job-ready” has shifted.

The real risk isn’t that AI will think for students.
The real risk is that students won’t know how to work with it—ethically, responsibly, and intelligently—while still thinking for themselves.

And if that’s the world our students are stepping into, pretending AI doesn’t exist is… not a strategy.

Teaching AI Without Letting It Do the Thinking

That’s exactly why our Workforce Readiness Training (WRT) on AI exists.

We don’t teach students to let AI do their homework, write their essays, or replace their brains (because, let’s be honest, we still need those).

Instead, we teach students:

• How AI actually works (spoiler: it’s not magic)
• How to use it to streamline processes, not shortcut learning
• How to ask better questions, evaluate outputs, and spot bias
• How to use AI with ethics, integrity, and intention
  

AI is a tool—not a replacement for critical thinking, creativity, or character. If students don’t understand that difference, someone else will define it for them.

Still Concerned? Same.

Let me be clear: I’m still concerned.
I’m just informed and concerned now.

And that’s exactly where our students should be.

Because when we send them across the graduation stage—caps on, futures wide open—we should know we’ve prepared them for the world they’re actually entering. A world where AI has a role, whether we like it or not.

Our responsibility isn’t to panic or to blindly embrace the tech.
It’s to teach students how to use it wisely, question it boldly, and never let it replace their own thinking.

And yes… I still reserve the right to side-eye AI a little.
But at least now, I know what I’m looking at.