AI, Without the Overwhelm: A Few Skills That Actually Matter
Let’s name the reality: AI can feel daunting!! New tools appear weekly, expectations feel unclear, and many educators are left wondering where to even start - on top of everything else already on your plate. The good news is you don’t need to chase every new platform to support students well.
A recent Forbes article by Mark C. Perna does a great job cutting through the noise by focusing on the AI Skills That Actually Create a Competitive Advantage- and they’re far more human than technical.
Read the article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/markcperna/2025/12/10/the-top-5-ai-skills-to-build-your-personal-competitive-advantage/
The short, educator-friendly takeaway:
Help students think with AI, not copy from it (compare, critique, improve).
Treat prompting as communication, not tech wizardry - clear thinking matters.
Normalize iteration and adaptability; revision is a life skill.
Use AI to strengthen human skills like judgment, creativity, and ethics.
These same ideas show up in the Develop This: Economic and Community Development Podcast, which offers a reassuring reminder that even in a fast-changing, AI-powered world, certain skills stay consistently powerful. This one pairs well with a walk, a commute, or a road trip - easy to listen to, big on perspective.
Listen to the podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/develop-this-economic-and-community-development/id1398076781?i=1000744119377
Bottom line: You don’t need all the AI answers. Supporting students in thinking critically, adapting comfortably, and using tools responsibly is more than enough. That’s not just future-ready - it’s human-ready!