Teaching with AI: Lessons from a business school instructor.

Dan Richards, a Rotman School instructor, describes three lessons from integrating AI into business courses: AI accelerates learning, is improving rapidly, and works best when combined with students' own work.

Dan Richards, a Rotman School instructor and former CEO, writes about how AI has changed his classroom. He notes that traditional university teaching has changed little over centuries. Today AI is affecting classroom dynamics, assignments and exams. Rotman's faculty are encouraged to incorporate AI rather than only restrict it. Key observations: - Classroom participation can reflect students using AI chatbots to answer questions rather than prior reading or preparation. - Students commonly use AI to summarize readings, draft or edit presentations, and produce written responses for assignments. - Richards describes two instructor choices: design assessments to restrict AI use or accept and integrate AI into teaching; Rotman favors integration. - Three lessons from his courses are highlighted: AI accelerates learning when used well; AI capabilities are improving quickly; and the best results come when students work in concert with AI. - In practice Richards has students draft work first, use AI to improve it, then compare and merge versions to preserve student voice while adding polish. Summary: AI is reshaping how students prepare and how instructors assess work, and the author frames this as a responsibility for business schools to address. The near-term path for courses is the choice between limiting AI and incorporating it into instruction. Undetermined at this time.