AI Hope Episode 4: Phil Gerbyshak on Surviving Teaching with AI

Geoff Livingston interviews Phil “Phil Gerb” Gerbyshak, a high school IT teacher and Substack writer, about using AI as a practical survival tool. Gerbyshak shares a personal success story: Walking into a new teaching role with no curriculum and using AI to navigate it. Phil used ChatGPT (plus some Gemini and Copilot) to build lesson plans, tests, and course materials for programming and video game design, saying he wouldn’t have made it through the year without it. Phil describes generally positive acceptance from fellow teachers, contrasts that with backlash he’s seen in marketing, and attributes resistance to fear and job-loss anxiety amid layoffs. He also discusses using AI as a developmental editor for his upcoming book, Slow Happiness (expected in October), and closes with a “happy tip” to slow down and enjoy life. 01:50 Teachers Embrace AI 03:11 Marketing Backlash 06:00 Slow Happiness Book 07:06 AI as Editor 08:46 Hopes for AI 09:25 Happy Tip