Last night at a friend’s birthday party, I met two people who care deeply about words. One was an English teacher. The other was a linguist. Both shared concerns about AI.

The teacher’s district labeled student AI use a “Level 5 infraction,” similar to cheating. She and her school's leadership worry that students would lose creativity and judgment.

The linguist had a different fear. She worried language work would lose the human touch and start to feel robotic.

My pushback was simple. If that is the fear, then experts in their respective professions, like them, must shape how we use the tools.

We need people who will protect the human skills and the human stories that only we can bring.

Some schools and companies are still banning. Others are building capacity.

The reality is that employers are already hiring for AI fluency. Blocking the tool does not protect or prepare the talent. It withholds the training and is setting them up for failure. 

There is an old Spanish saying that my mom used to say that comes to mind:

“Camarón que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente.”
The shrimp that falls asleep gets carried away by the current.

Our job is not to stop the current. Our job is to teach people how to swim safely and not get swept away.

THIS WEEK'S INSIGHTS:

• Why blanket bans backfire and what to do instead.
• How to keep the human touch while using AI in language-rich work.
• A simple framework you can use today, plus prompts you can copy and adapt.

TRENDS:

• Employers are rewarding AI fluency.
  The 2025 Work Trend Index links competitiveness to adoption and shows hiring trends that favor AI skills. Fluency is becoming table stakes.
• Education is shifting from “ban” to “build capacity.”
  The U.S. Department of Education encouraged responsible AI use and clarified that federal funds can support this work in its press release and Dear Colleague Letter on July 22, 2025
  
  
  

MYTH-BUSTER TIPS:

Myth: Banning AI preserves integrity and creativity.

Reframe: Clear rules and guided practice protect integrity and grow creativity.

Replace blanket bans with simple guardrails. State when AI is allowed, when it is not allowed, and how to disclose use. Ask for a short note on what the human decided. Add a quick oral check. We took the same approach with calculators. We taught when to use the tool and when to show the work.

Myth: Scholars and professionals should avoid AI to protect their craft.

Reframe: Human plus AI is the new baseline for quality and speed.

Opting out does not make the work more authentic. It makes the worker less prepared. Use AI to enhance analysis and streamline drafts. Keep humans in charge of judgment, voice, and values. If you fear that work will feel robotic, you are exactly the person we need to guide how the tools are used.

TOOLS TO EXPLORE

This week, try the following framework and Prompts to Steal to help you take action.

I like to pretend that AI is my Artificial Intern. It is helpful and fast, but it is junior. I am the leader/manager who checks the work.

SKYE Framework

I created this framework to check the work of my Artificial Intern.

Remember it as SKYE: Show, Keep-Change-Why, Your Defense, Elevate.

SHOW
Say if you used AI. Name the tool and what it helped with. One sentence is enough.
Why it matters: Transparency builds trust and teaches ownership.

KEEP-CHANGE-WHY
Write two or three bullets that say what you kept, what you changed, and why.
Why it matters: Judgment is a skill. We build it by making choices visible.

YOUR DEFENSE
Do a three to five-minute walk-through or a short oral check. If you can explain it, you can claim it.
Why it matters: Understanding beats copy and paste. Your voice shines through when you talk about the work.

ELEVATE
Use AI for setup tasks like outlines and examples. Save your brain for analysis, voice, and originality.
Why it matters: The tool handles scaffolding. Humans handle meaning.

Prompts to Steal

Use these in ChatGPT, GPT, Gemini, Claude, or Perplexity. Copy them, then doctor them for your context.

Task or workflow redesign
“Act as a coach for responsible AI. I will paste a task or workflow. Return a short ‘Allowed | Not Allowed | Must Disclose’ box, a one sentence AI-use disclosure line for learners to fill in, three acceptable example prompts, three not acceptable prompts with reasons, and a five minute oral-check outline to confirm authorship. Ask me three clarifying questions first. Then produce the deliverables.”

Keep creativity high without shortcuts
“I want to keep creativity high while using AI for scaffolding. Propose a plan where AI handles outlines and examples. Humans handle voice, analysis, and originality. Give me a checklist that proves human decisions. Include three ideas to raise the bar on originality.”

SKYE checklist for my class or team
“Create a one page SKYE checklist for an Artificial Intern Integrity Check. Sections: Show, Keep-change-why, Explain, Elevate. Add one line rubrics that describe what strong work looks like for each section. End with a template the learner can copy.”

Myth-busting perspective shift
“Present the strongest arguments for and against this belief: ‘Using AI will make our work robotic.’ List five practical ways to keep the human touch while still using AI. End with one experiment I can try this week in my class or team.”

👉🏽 If our schools and workplaces do not teach people how to use AI well, are we setting them up for failure?

CLOSING THOUGHT
We cannot stop the current. 

We can teach people how to swim safely and not get swept away. 

Culture sets the ceiling.

Tools set the floor.

Hasta la próxima, Abrazos!

(Until next week, hugs!)

Monica Marquez

When You're Ready...

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