Hey folks,
Let me start this week's column with a joke that's as real as the Monday morning blues!
Suresh used AI to write a report. Bala used AI to generate questions on it. Suresh used AI to answer them. Bala used AI to make a presentation. Shuba used AI to summarise it into a one-line WhatsApp update.
No one read, wrote, or understood anything. The AI dashboard showed 100% productivity, so they won an award! Get the drift? This is exactly what's going to happen when there's "ZERO AI literacy" and the outcome looks like a "False Positive" that AI adds business value, which is a bubble about to burst.
Let’s get real: asking a chatbot like ChatGPT to finish your homework is like microwaving Maggi, fast, satisfying, and absolutely not the point of learning.
And yet, with India’s education system now flooded with AI in education initiatives, from ChatGPT Edu in India to Google Gemini for Students, the time has come for serious AI literacy in India.
Used right, AI is not your shortcut; it’s your exoskeleton. It doesn’t think for you, it amplifies you. Treated like a toy, it’ll make you lazy. Treated like a tool, it’ll make you unstoppable.
India’s big AI push in education
OpenAI just kicked off an India-first push, Rs 4.5 crore to IIT-Madras and 5 lakh free ChatGPT Edu licenses for teachers and students across government schools and AICTE institutions.
Translation: the AI lab is coming to your classroom. Don’t show up with a Nerf gun. Show up with a plan.
Meanwhile, Google Gemini for Education India is rolling out with student privacy upgrades and even a free one-year Gemini Pro for Students offer.
Add GitHub Copilot Student Pack India 2025 (free Pro access with your edu email), and suddenly your “just vibes” coding projects can actually run.
This is the buffet. The real question is: are you here to nibble, or to feast responsibly?
When students use AI as a substitution machine, “do my assignment, thanks bro”, they lose the muscle they’re supposed to build: thinking.
The risks are real:
1. Privacy leaks if you dump personal data into consumer AI tools.
2. Hallucinations when models confidently give wrong answers.
3. Plagiarism traps if you submit AI text without rewriting.
4. Academic trouble now that universities can detect sloppy AI usage in seconds.
5. AI isn’t dangerous in itself; careless usage is. Don’t panic, just don’t be careless.
Here is Coach’s “AI-As-A-Tool” starter pack
1) Use AI for process, not performance. Brainstorm directions, structure your approach, and pressure-test your logic. AI drafts? Fine. Submitting them unedited? Foolish.
2) Run the 3C safety check: “Check–Consent–Credibility”
Check: Know your AI usage policy.
Consent: Don’t paste sensitive data.
Credibility: Demand sources. Always cross-check.
3) Upgrade your prompts to tasks
Weak: “Explain photosynthesis.”
Strong: “I’m preparing a 3-minute Class 10 explainer. Give me an outline, 2 analogies, 1 diagram idea, and 3 sources.”
4) Pair AI with a timer and a template. Try Pomodoro: 25 minutes on, 5 off. Let AI fill a structure, Problem → Hypothesis → Evidence → Counterpoint → Conclusion. You refine.
5) Show your work. Say how AI helped. “I used Gemini for an outline, Copilot for syntax; edits are mine.” That’s honesty, not confession.
6) Use AI as a feedback loop. Ask it to grade your work, poke holes, and stress-test arguments. It’s free tutoring, without the attitude.
AI won’t replace you. A student with AI who knows what they’re doing will. Don’t outsource your brain, upgrade it. Build systems, not shortcuts. Keep your ethics tight, your sources tighter, and your curiosity feral. Use AI to learn faster, not just to look smarter.
With Regards,
Adarsh Benakappa Basavaraj,
Your Coach, who knows Ctrl+Z can’t undo bad choices with AI
