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Bringing AI to Your Campus Interview Series

An interview with Christopher Mah

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ChrisMah

Christopher Mah

Christopher Mah, a Doctoral Student at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education

In this interview

Welcome back to Bringing AI to Your Campus: A Thought Leadership Series. In this interview, I had the pleasure of speaking with Christopher Mah, a Doctoral Student at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education, where his research focuses on professional learning and AI literacy. With a rich background in teaching and technology, Christopher has served as a high school English teacher and worked in business development and marketing roles at companies like Google, Criteo, and Expedia. His research explores the role of AI tools in shaping modern pedagogy, with a particular emphasis on writing instruction and equity.

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AI in Education: A Changing Landscape

How do you see generative AI influencing education?


AI is reshaping education, especially in writing and knowledge building. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Google’s NotebookLM can assist students in brainstorming, improving their writing, and engaging with content in multimodal ways. For example, I’ve experimented with NotebookLM to turn academic research into podcast-style outputs, showing its potential for teaching complex ideas in accessible formats. However, this shift comes with challenges—teachers and students must navigate questions of academic integrity, equitable access, and how to effectively use these tools without undermining core learning objectives.

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Integrating AI into Writing Instruction

What opportunities and challenges does AI present for writing education?


AI offers unprecedented opportunities to personalize and enhance writing instruction. For example, teachers can use AI to generate contrasting examples of texts, scaffold assignments, or create alternative modalities like audio summaries. Students can use AI to brainstorm ideas or get additional feedback on their writing when a teacher or peer is not available. However, this also introduces challenges, including fears of over-reliance, potential misuse, and issues of equity, since students from under-resourced schools may have less access to AI tools or guidance on how to use them. To address this, educators must focus on teaching AI literacy, helping students understand how to use these tools responsibly while maintaining the integrity of the learning process.

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Advice for Educators

How can educators embrace AI in their classrooms?


I don’t think educators necessarily need to “embrace” AI, but I do think they need to embrace AI literacy, the ability for students to understand, evaluate, and use AI productively and ethically. First, educators should view AI as a partner, not a replacement. They can start by exploring simple integrations aligned with their existing goals, such as using AI for formative feedback or as a brainstorming tool. Second, focus on pedagogy—design assignments where the use of AI aligns with the intended learning outcomes. For instance, if the goal is to improve writing, AI can help students brainstorm ideas and conduct research, but they  should still engage in productive struggle around planning, drafting, and revising their writing. Finally, educators must stay informed about the ethical dimensions of AI, including its environmental footprint, data privacy, and equity implications, to ensure its responsible use in education.

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Bridging Research and Practice

How does your research inform your approach to AI in education?


My work focuses on the tension between the potential benefits of AI and the challenges it poses. For example, a recent study I co-authored examined how students and teachers perceive AI in the classroom. While many see it as a “cheat bot,” it can also be a tool for deeper learning when framed appropriately. I aim to develop frameworks that help educators leverage AI effectively while addressing concerns about misuse and inequity. Collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and policymakers is essential to create systems that ensure AI benefits all students equitably.

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The Future of AI in Education

What’s next for AI in education?

While I can’t predict the future, what I hope will happen is that educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders will rally around the need for AI literacy as a crucial skill for students’ future success and well-being. As a society, we failed to teach children the skills they needed to navigate social media in the last decade, and as a result, we have seen huge declines in academic and mental health outcomes. AI poses some parallel risks, arguably on a bigger scale. AI will do both harm and good in education, and the degree to which it does each really depends on our ability to prepare students to be responsible digital citizens and critical consumers and creators of AI. 

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