If AI Can Answer It, Are We Asking the Right Questions?

By Mel Evans, Co-Founder, The EduShift Collective

Ok, I'll start out by saying, this blog was born out of complete frustration.

In the past week, two of my children, one in Year 7 and one at University, came to me to reflect on their assessments. After hearing their thoughts and questions to me, I asked, "Have you thought about chatting this out with ChatGPT?"

The responses I received?

"No, Mum, we’re not allowed to." 

"No, Mum, we were told we will fail if they find out we have used AI." 

"No, Mum, I was told if I even opened AI, they would track me, and I’d be caught."

Really? In today’s modern world, this is what we are saying to our learners? Are we making them afraid to engage with a tool that is already shaping the future?

And then here I was, sitting at home later, still stewing over it, thinking about how I might like to frame this blog. I knew I had a lot of emotions tied up in it, and I needed to talk it through with someone. I looked around the house. No one was there. Sure, my Groodle, Lala, might have pretended to be interested, but I needed an actual discussion. So, I did what any curious thinker in 2025 might do, I asked my favourite AI friend to talk it out with me.

As I bounced ideas back and forth, something struck me: We are so quick to resist AI in education, yet here I was, using it to refine my own thoughts. Why do we stop students from doing the same?

Why the Resistance?

There are some valid concerns. Many educators worry that students will rely on AI to do their thinking for them and that they’ll stop developing critical thinking, problem-solving, or even basic literacy skills. Academic integrity is another fear, how do we know what a student actually understands if AI is doing the heavy lifting?

These concerns are real, but are they new? Every technological advancement in education has been met with hesitation. Calculators in maths, spell check in writing, and the internet itself were all initially seen as threats to learning. Now, they’re essential tools.

The Australian Framework for Generative AI in Schools (AITSL, 2023) encourages educators to reflect on this shift. Instead of banning AI, it suggests we ask: How do we integrate AI in a way that strengthens, rather than weakens, student learning?

Rethinking What We Assess

Here’s the real challenge: If AI can answer a question, does that mean students shouldn’t? Or does it mean we’re asking the wrong questions?

Too much of traditional education still revolves around recall-based assessments, essays summarising historical events, formulaic responses to literature, standardised tests that prioritise memorisation. But if AI can generate those answers in seconds, we have to ask ourselves: Are we assessing thinking, or are we assessing who has access to better technology?

Australian schools are already starting to shift. The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) (2024) is exploring how generative AI can be used to enhance deep learning rather than replace it. Instead of banning AI, educators are experimenting with using it to extend student thinking, asking students to critique AI-generated responses, refine arguments, or use AI as a brainstorming tool before crafting their own ideas.

AI as a Thinking Partner

Maybe we need to stop seeing AI as "cheating" and start seeing it as a coach, a support, a tool to extend thinking. AI can generate content, but humans bring the meaning, the interpretation, the creativity.

Think about how professionals use AI. Writers use AI to refine ideas, designers use AI to prototype, and engineers use AI to troubleshoot. If we want students to engage with the world beyond school, we need to teach them how to work with AI, not against it.

The South Australian Department for Education has already trialled AI-powered learning tools, with teachers reporting that AI-supported feedback actually helped students refine their work and deepen their understanding (Microsoft Education, 2024).

So, What Do We Do Next?

If banning AI isn’t the answer, what is? Here are some practical steps for educators to rethink AI in the classroom:

✅ Shift from recall to deeper learning – Instead of asking students to define a concept, ask them to apply it in a real-world scenario. If AI can answer the question, how can you make it more complex?

✅ Use AI as a critical thinking tool—Have students generate an AI response and analyse it. Where is it biased? Where is it inaccurate? How would they improve it?

✅Teach ethical AI use – Instead of banning it, integrate discussions about how professionals use AI responsibly. What does ethical AI use look like in different careers?

✅ Model AI as a learning partner – Just like we teach students how to research effectively, we can teach them how to use AI tools to refine and challenge their thinking.

✅ Advocate for systemic change – If schools are still assessing students in ways that AI can easily replicate, it’s time to push for assessment reform. What new models of assessment reflect the skills students actually need?

Final Thought: Education is Changing, Are We?

Education is changing, whether we like it or not. We can resist AI, or we can harness it to develop students who are thinkers, not just memorisers.

I started this blog wanting to work through my own thoughts. I asked AI to help me clarify my thinking, refine my arguments, and even suggest relevant research. But the insights, the connections, the voice, that was all me.

Isn’t that what we want for our students, too?