Thanks Chris! To be honest I have definitely learnt this from publishing scientific research and the peer-review process. It’s never going to get everything perfect first time, so best to share it with your intended audience and let them break / critique your argument and theory the improve with iteration. 🙏
Great post and I love this collaboration. Dr. Sam’s approach to AI in higher education really resonates with me. Particularly his point about AI merely highlighting poor assignments and assessments. As much as I hate to say it, some assessments are simply…lazy. Another paper for this, another paper for that. Sometimes we need a huge disruption like AI to push us forward.
As someone in the mental health field, I find a similar function of AI in relation to clinical practice. I don’t think counselors and therapists will be replaced by AI. But we better hone our skills and ensure it’s worth it for clients to choose us over a chat bot that lives in their pocket.
Thank you for reading and for this thoughtful comment Dr. Cort! ''Sometimes we need a huge disruption like AI to push us forward'' resonates with me too.
Thanks, Dr. Cort, and I agree with all of this. I really hope that AI provides educators with the opportunity to redesign their curriculum and assessments to be something that actually gives value to the students that they should be serving.
This piece of Sam & Karo nails a rare but crucial flip: instead of policing students, it audits the assessment design and the incentives upstream.
I love the “we’re educators, not cops” line – it reframes integrity as a curriculum problem, not a surveillance problem. The “people don’t want data, they want to feel capable of improvement” insight is gold and applies way beyond education products!
Also, the deliberate “nos” (no detection, no gamification, no league tables) reads like real product judgment, not vibes. Thanks dear Sam and Karo!
This is a top post, Karo and Sam! Most importantly, I like how it addresses a big pain point wrt AI integration in education. Thanks so much for featuring our BMAD tool in the mentions! 🤗
Really liked this. It’s also a reminder of how valuable it can be to ship even when something isn’t fully ready. Starting the conversation and revealing gaps puts you on the right path, instead of waiting for a “perfect” solution that may never exist.
Sometimes shipping early is the fastest way to learn what truly matters. ✨
If anyone is in the same shipping scared needing feedback moment, DM me and I'll give you free PocketHog access - you can see what's happening in what you build, and in return you give me some feedback medicine.
Thank you for the mention Karo - Sam this whole piece is a great read. 🦔
Thanks so much, Rebecca! I think one of the things I definitely have in my favour is that, above everything else, I am an arch pragmatist. Some years ago, I realised that the amount of work needed to get something from 92% to 100% is almost never worth it, if not a completely impossible task.
The Integrity Audit represents a new approach to incorporating AI into learning without either “gotchas” or making it easy to cheat. As a parent, I love to see this! Kudos to Karo and Sam for a great collab!
Thanks so much, Anna. It was so great working with Karo on this, and I continued to learn about how to actually build rather than just critique all the time. 😅
That shift from ‘let me build this’ instead of staying in critique mode is everything. Many of us can relate, but far fewer actually do it, especially in public. I believe that’s where taste, preference, and courage all show up. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this, Karo and Sam. I always enjoy when the two of you collaborate, and this was such a thoughtful take on the whole AI detection conversation.
I love the focus on human-centered design instead of building another surveillance tool. Sometimes the smartest AI move is improving the system around the technology, not adding more monitoring.
Thanks so much Pinkie! And yes absolutely, even as a technophile I worry that in higher education we turn to technology far too readily when instead the solution is often developing better pedagogies and dialogues with our students. 😥
Woah, lovely collab!! 🥰❤️
Thank you Mia! 🤗
Thank you, Mia. Karo is such a great confidence builder and obviously a brilliant writer and artist as well.
You're too kind! Both of you!
She is! ❤️🥰
“
Build the smallest version first and ship it scared. You’ll think it’s not ready. You’ll be right, it’s not. Ship it anyway.
“
absolutely love this advice. iterative deployments are so much better :)
nice collab!
Thanks Chris! To be honest I have definitely learnt this from publishing scientific research and the peer-review process. It’s never going to get everything perfect first time, so best to share it with your intended audience and let them break / critique your argument and theory the improve with iteration. 🙏
Great post and I love this collaboration. Dr. Sam’s approach to AI in higher education really resonates with me. Particularly his point about AI merely highlighting poor assignments and assessments. As much as I hate to say it, some assessments are simply…lazy. Another paper for this, another paper for that. Sometimes we need a huge disruption like AI to push us forward.
As someone in the mental health field, I find a similar function of AI in relation to clinical practice. I don’t think counselors and therapists will be replaced by AI. But we better hone our skills and ensure it’s worth it for clients to choose us over a chat bot that lives in their pocket.
Thank you for reading and for this thoughtful comment Dr. Cort! ''Sometimes we need a huge disruption like AI to push us forward'' resonates with me too.
Thanks, Dr. Cort, and I agree with all of this. I really hope that AI provides educators with the opportunity to redesign their curriculum and assessments to be something that actually gives value to the students that they should be serving.
Love seeing two of my favorite writers collaborate here!
Loved this collab, Karo and Sam! "We’re educators, not cops" is so key here. I love that you have literally pioneered an entirely new approach, Sam!
Thanks so much Dallas. 🙏
This piece of Sam & Karo nails a rare but crucial flip: instead of policing students, it audits the assessment design and the incentives upstream.
I love the “we’re educators, not cops” line – it reframes integrity as a curriculum problem, not a surveillance problem. The “people don’t want data, they want to feel capable of improvement” insight is gold and applies way beyond education products!
Also, the deliberate “nos” (no detection, no gamification, no league tables) reads like real product judgment, not vibes. Thanks dear Sam and Karo!
Thank you Mila! I find those red lines really help me frame the constraints that are needed to make the build(s). 🙏
Great collaboration, Karo! Thanks for the mention! 🤗
This is a top post, Karo and Sam! Most importantly, I like how it addresses a big pain point wrt AI integration in education. Thanks so much for featuring our BMAD tool in the mentions! 🤗
My pleasure! Thank you for reading Raghav!
That mindset is powerful, creating tools to empower, not entrap, changes the entire culture of innovation.
Building with purpose means creating value, not traps
Really liked this. It’s also a reminder of how valuable it can be to ship even when something isn’t fully ready. Starting the conversation and revealing gaps puts you on the right path, instead of waiting for a “perfect” solution that may never exist.
Sometimes shipping early is the fastest way to learn what truly matters. ✨
That's very true. 'Ship it scared' (Sam's line) is one of my new favourites :)
"Ship it scared. You'll think it's not ready. You'll be right, it's not. Ship it anyway." YES - this is where I am right now.
I was just circling the same idea here https://substack.com/home/post/p-189835243 as I build out PocketHog.
If anyone is in the same shipping scared needing feedback moment, DM me and I'll give you free PocketHog access - you can see what's happening in what you build, and in return you give me some feedback medicine.
Thank you for the mention Karo - Sam this whole piece is a great read. 🦔
Thank you for reading Rebecca and for sharing your project with us!
Thanks so much, Rebecca! I think one of the things I definitely have in my favour is that, above everything else, I am an arch pragmatist. Some years ago, I realised that the amount of work needed to get something from 92% to 100% is almost never worth it, if not a completely impossible task.
The Integrity Audit represents a new approach to incorporating AI into learning without either “gotchas” or making it easy to cheat. As a parent, I love to see this! Kudos to Karo and Sam for a great collab!
Thank you Karen!
Thanks so much, Karen, and as ever for all of your help and support in getting me back on the road of coding. 🙏
You’re very welcome! It’s been really fun to see all your new build projects!
Love this! ❤️
Thank you Ileana 🤗
Thank you Ileana! 🤩
I like when you guys encourage: ship and get feedback. Great collab!
Thanks so much, Anna. It was so great working with Karo on this, and I continued to learn about how to actually build rather than just critique all the time. 😅
That shift from ‘let me build this’ instead of staying in critique mode is everything. Many of us can relate, but far fewer actually do it, especially in public. I believe that’s where taste, preference, and courage all show up. 🙂
Thank you for reading Anna!
Thank you for sharing this, Karo and Sam. I always enjoy when the two of you collaborate, and this was such a thoughtful take on the whole AI detection conversation.
I love the focus on human-centered design instead of building another surveillance tool. Sometimes the smartest AI move is improving the system around the technology, not adding more monitoring.
Really appreciated this perspective. 🩷🦩
Thanks so much Pinkie! And yes absolutely, even as a technophile I worry that in higher education we turn to technology far too readily when instead the solution is often developing better pedagogies and dialogues with our students. 😥