Artificial intelligence has quickly become part of how students learn, review, and prepare. As AI tools become more accessible, tutors are uniquely positioned to help students use them wisely, not as shortcuts but as study companions that reinforce understanding.
Guiding Students When AI Comes Up
When a student mentions using AI to help them study, tutors have a chance to redirect the conversation in a productive way. Instead of discouraging AI use altogether, tutors can show students how to use it effectively. For example, when appropriate, a tutor might demonstrate how a ChatGPT “study and learn” feature can:
- Check comprehension. After reviewing a topic, students can ask AI to quiz them or generate practice problems to confirm understanding.
- Clarify confusing concepts. When a student struggles with a definition or formula, AI can simplify the explanation, and the tutor can ensure it is accurate.
- Provide new examples. AI can create varied examples or scenarios that help students apply what they have learned in different contexts.
- Organize study sessions. Tutors can recommend using AI to outline study goals, create schedules, or space out reviews for better retention.
By helping students see AI as a learning tool rather than a substitute for learning, tutors teach digital literacy and academic integrity in one conversation.
Keeping the Human in Learning
AI can generate answers, but it cannot replace encouragement, curiosity, or connection. Tutoring is built on trust and dialogue, two things that technology can support but never fully replicate.
When tutors guide students in how to use AI responsibly, they model how technology and human insight can coexist. The tutor becomes not just a subject expert but a mentor in metacognition, helping students reflect on how they learn, not just what they learn.
The Role of Tutors in an AI-Enhanced World
Tutors can reframe AI from a source of easy answers to a partner in critical thinking. When necessary, they can gently redirect students who rely too heavily on AI and remind them that understanding requires engagement. The most powerful learning still happens in conversation, when someone listens, asks follow-up questions, and helps a student connect new knowledge to what they already know.
AI can make learning more efficient, but tutors make it meaningful.
At Knack, we believe tutoring is about amplifying human impact through connection. Explore our free peer tutor training modules, created in partnership with the College Reading and Learning Association and aligned with ITTPC Level 1, at PeerTutorTraining.com.
