Thinking With AI
Source: Nick Potkalitsky Substack
Author: Nick Potkalitsky
Original source: https://nickpotkalitsky.substack.com/p/thinking-with-ai-thinking-with-ai
Source type: essay
Private backup: the full article text is archived in the private repository at archives/articles/nickpotkalitsky-substack-com-thinking-with-ai-thinking-with-ai.source.md. It is not published on the public Quartz site.
Summary
Potkalitsky describes AI literacy nights for parents as a valuable form of community engagement. Such events help schools understand parent concerns, assess community familiarity with AI, explain vetted tools, address safety and privacy, and demonstrate that AI decisions are being made intentionally rather than reactively. He emphasizes that family engagement should not be one-off: periodic surveys can track changing concerns and inform future workshops. The post introduces a designed event format with rotating stations, scripts, takeaway materials, and facilitator preparation notes, though the archived text mostly functions as a resource announcement.
Pull quotes
Meeting the community
“They are an opportunity to meet your community where it actually is”
Purpose and scope
“specific decisions are being made about purpose and scope, not just reacting to whatever arrives next.”
Not a one-time event
“community engagement around AI should not be a one-time event.”
A full community suite
“we have built out resources for students, educators, and now families.”
Durability note
The specific event materials are resource-dependent, but the durable point is that family engagement around AI should be iterative, values-explicit, and connected to community concerns rather than treated as a one-off presentation.
Big ideas
- District AI work is a long-term redesign project
- Schools should start with learning values before choosing AI tools
- AI literacy requires different kinds of AI interaction
Claims
- AI literacy takes system capacity, not just tool access
- District AI implementation needs living guidance and teacher-led redesign
- AI tool choices should be judged against stated learning values
Key evidence and examples
- A nearby district had held AI literacy nights for parents for two years.
- Parent AI literacy events can surface concerns, gauge comfort, demonstrate vetted tools, and explain safety and data privacy.
- Potkalitsky argues community engagement should be recurring rather than a one-time event.
- The proposed format includes four rotating 15-minute stations, scripts, sample materials, a parent takeaway sheet, and facilitator preparation notes.
Education relevance
Relevant for district AI implementation, family communication, trust-building, professional learning, and AI policy rollout, though the archive is brief and partly resource-oriented.