Most teachers I know use AI the same way: they open ChatGPT, type "write me a worksheet about persuasive writing," then spend twenty minutes fixing the formatting. It's useful. But sitting here in Shanghai, where the tech ecosystem moves fast, I've realised that prompting is only about 5% of what's actually possible.
The staffroom divide
There's a growing split in how we talk about tech. The traditionalists think AI-generated resources are soulless. The tech optimists think "prompting" is the new literacy. Both views feel limited. One ignores the power of the tool. The other treats it like a magic genie.
"Prompt engineering" is overrated
The current buzz in education is all about prompt engineering. Learn the right sequence of words, they say, and the AI will give you exactly what you need.
But watching how actual coders work here in Shanghai, I've realised that prompting is brittle. Naval Ravikant says code is the ultimate leverage — but only if you build systems, not just conversations. Prompting is a conversation. Coding is a machine. In the classroom, we need machines.
The real superpower: vibe coding
The real superpower isn't prompting. It's vibe coding — describing what you want and letting the AI build the code to generate it. You aren't asking for a worksheet. You're building a system that can produce thirty booklets in ten minutes. You're moving from being a writer of content to a builder of systems.
Why systems beat prompts
Total consistency. When I use an AI coding tool to write a Python script, every worksheet follows the same style. I don't worry about font sizes. The code handles formatting. I focus on the curriculum.
Data-driven differentiation. Because I'm using code, I can feed in a spreadsheet of my students' last test results. The script generates different versions — one for the kids who struggled, one for those who need a challenge. Doing this manually would take a weekend. With a script, it takes an afternoon.
How to start
You don't actually need to learn how to code. You just need to change how you talk to the AI.
Don't ask for a worksheet. Ask the AI to "write a Python script that turns this list of vocab into a PDF booklet with an answer key."
Use Markdown. Keep your ideas in simple text files. No hidden formatting. Just clarity.
Build an archive. Once you have a script that works, you have it for life. Next year, you just run it again.
Don't be intimidated by the word coding. If you can describe what you want, you can build it. We have the chance to move from being under-resourced managers to being architects of our own curriculum. Why wouldn't we take it?