Weekly Newsletter

Practical AI Strategies

My Lived Experience Using GenAI as an AuDHD Adult

Plus: What happens to expertise when students skip the struggle?

Hi everyone,

Both articles this week deal with topics close to my heart: the use of GenAI by neurodivergent people, and the importance of "productive struggle" in learning.

I've been using these technologies since early 2022 - before the release of ChatGPT. The way I interact with GenAI has shifted and changed over time. it has never really occurred to me to reflect on my use of AI as an "assistive technology", but as an adult with a combined autism/ADHD diagnosis it makes sense that much of my use is designed to help me navigate the world and my work.

In the first post this week I reflect on my use of GenAI platforms like Claude, voice transcription tools, and other apps through the lens of ND assistive tech.

I give three examples of the most common ways I use the technology to help day-to-day, including capturing ideas, writing with speech-to-text, and "social stories" for grown ups.

What Happens When Students Skip the Struggle?

I've written a lot in the past few years about the "expertise paradox" of AI: to get the most out of the applications, you already need to command a certain amount of knowledge about the tech, and the discipline you're using it in.

Of course, learners by definition are not experts: so how do we help them to negotiate the productive struggle needed to develop expertise?

In this article, I ask: what's the "minimum viable struggle" for your disicpline?

Early Access to the Practical AI Library Ends this Week

Finally, thanks to the 300+ educators who have already joined the Practical AI Library: a curated collection of "library shelves" covering AI research, news, and ideas. The collection is steadily growing (but always capped at a small number articles per shelf, so you'll never have a 2,000 article long waiting list!) and readers have given me great feedback so far.

Early Access ends this weekend, so make sure to check it out and try a month for half price at just $4AUD.

Cheers,

Leon

PS: Next week I'll be announcing my 2026 series of webinars which bring all of my existing courses and PD right up to date with the newest technologies, policies, and regulation around AI in education. Stay tuned for more information...

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