1/ More than half of U.S. teens now say they have used AI chatbots for help with schoolwork.
That does not automatically mean they are cheating.
It does mean schools have a new assessment problem.
2/ For years, a polished essay or project gave teachers at least partial evidence that a student had wrestled with the material.
The final product was never perfect evidence of learning, but it usually carried traces of reading, drafting, revising, and deciding.
3/ Generative AI changes that relationship.
A student can now submit work that looks complete while the human learning process behind it remains unclear.
That is what I call the illusion of completion.
4/ My dissertation proposal examines this through the idea of pedagogical friction: the productive forms of struggle schools may need to preserve, redesign, or remove in the age of generative AI.
5/ The goal is not to make school harder.
The goal is to make learning more visible.
That means process evidence: draft history, oral explanation, source defense, reflection, peer critique, and authorship statements.
6/ The question is no longer simply:
“Did the student use AI?”
The better question is:
“What human work did the student still have to do?”
This summer I’ll be writing through that question in my Designing with Friction series.
micahminer.com/summer-resear…
#PedagogicalFriction #AIinEd #K12
ALT An educational infographic titled "Designing with Friction - Week 1: The Pattern We’re Seeing." The headline states: "More than half of U.S. teens say they have used AI chatbots for schoolwork. That does not automatically mean cheating; it does mean schools have a new assessment problem." A central diagram shows how generative AI can bypass the "hidden" human learning process (drafting, thinking, dialogue, reflection). Below this, the "Pedagogical Friction" framework contrasts "Productive Friction" (which builds memory, judgment, and voice) with "Exclusionary Friction" (which blocks access). It lists ways to make learning visible, such as draft history, oral explanations, and process notes. The footer displays the core prompt: "The better question: What human work did the student still have to do?" and includes Micah Miner's branding with the hashtags #PedagogicalFriction, #GenerativeAI, #K12, and #AIinEd.