Why I’m Learning AI in Public
Artificial intelligence is everywhere at the moment.
Depending on who you ask, it’s either about to revolutionise everything or destroy half the workforce. The tone is often breathless. Occasionally apocalyptic. Rarely calm.
I’m a secondary mathematics teacher. I’m not a technologist, a startup founder, or an AI evangelist. I’m someone who spends most days in classrooms, thinking about how people learn, how systems work, and how to make complicated ideas understandable.
Over the past year, I’ve started experimenting seriously with AI tools — not just asking them questions, but trying to build things with them. Automating small tasks. Testing workflows. Breaking systems. Rebuilding them. Occasionally getting something to work in a way that feels genuinely useful.
Sometimes it’s impressive.
Sometimes it’s frustrating.
Sometimes it’s a complete waste of time.
But it’s never boring.
I’ve realised that the most useful way for me to approach AI isn’t as a passive consumer of tools, nor as a loud critic or cheerleader. It’s as a learner.
So this blog is exactly that: a record of learning.
Not polished thought leadership.
Not “10 hacks to master AI overnight.”
Not grand predictions about the future.
Just experiments, reflections, and practical lessons from someone trying to understand how artificial intelligence fits into real work and real life.
As a teacher, I’m naturally interested in how AI affects education. But I’m equally interested in productivity, systems, writing, automation, and the quieter question of how we think clearly in a time of rapid technological change.
I don’t want to be left behind.
I also don’t want to be swept along uncritically.
Learning AI feels like something that should be done deliberately — with curiosity, scepticism, and a willingness to admit when something doesn’t work.
That’s what I’ll try to do here.
I’ll share:
- Tools I’m testing
- Systems I’m building
- Mistakes I’m making
- Things that genuinely save time
- And things that turn out to be more hype than help
If nothing else, writing about this process should sharpen my own thinking.
If it’s useful to others — teachers, professionals, or anyone trying to make sense of AI — even better.
This is simply the start.
— Richard Linnington