Using AI for Latin and Greek Learning: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

A long time ago, I promised a post with my views on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for teaching (and learning) Latin and Greek. Since then, I have started this, let's call it, 'policy', a couple of times, but every time I have decided I was not sure yet, because it was all changing too quickly for me to have a reasonably informed say.

Overview of my current approach to AI for tutoring Latin and Greek, and content creation

First of all, I think we need to make the following clear:

1. What AI can do for Latin and Greek teaching and learning

2. What AI cannot do for Latin and Greek teaching and learning

3. What we actually want AI to do for Latin and Greek teaching and learning

Let me explain: there are many things AI can do right now, and also quite a lot of things that people insist it can do, but it actually cannot do well. The fact that we may be able to outsource many tasks to AI does not mean we should. At all.

Here is an easy example:

AI can not only summarise a book but also give me a good sense of what others think about it, from style to context to impact on the reader. However, I read books for pleasure, personal interest and, ultimately, growth, so there is no point in taking a shortcut that will never achieve any of that.

Having established this, here is how I use and don't use AI and what I think it can and can't do well. This is mostly a comment on my own practice, but I will share some thoughts about the role of AI in the learning process for the students (spoiler: it is not a big one!).

NB: This is likely to change over time, so come back in a couple of months and you may find something a bit different.

Disclosure: How I use AI in my Latin and Greek teaching and learning

I use AI tools. I have done some research on environmental impact and pondered how it fits with my other lifestyle choices, and I have decided that I am satisfied that it is acceptable to use it. I have also come to the conclusion that there is much work to be done (and much damage already done) regarding intellectual property, but that this is part of the process, and I would still like to explore and take part in the development.

After some trial and error, I have settled on certain uses that I consider helpful and positive. These are mostly logistical and practical applications, for reasons I will go into detail when I look into what AI cannot do.

Here are some examples:

1. AI uses for Latin and Greek teaching and learning: coding, app building, formatting and mapping

This is a mixed bag. For example, to store and share the activities of my A-Level Mastery Hub, I have created a website to host bespoke exercises for my students that can be easily updated and collect results. The content of the exercises is created by me, but the coding is done by Claude.

Here is an example of one of the exercises I then embed in my weekly activities:

Other uses include:

• Formatting texts for Orbergisation or Kilpelation (for the non-initiated, that means creating a running vocabulary support with images, synonyms, opposites, etc), especially for use by GCSE and A-Level students

• Creating bespoke vocabulary lists and ordering them in suitable ways by task

• Building templates and populating them with the new information I provide

• Checking that I have macronised texts correctly

• Removing macrons when needed with one click

• Turning pictures of texts into Word so that I can keep and edit old photocopies, including past papers, resources, etc

2. AI uses for Latin and Greek teaching and learning: image creation

I adore using art from all periods as a lesson prompt. Sometimes, however, it can be difficult to find an image that contains all the vocabulary you want to use, in the way you want it, without being too crowded (or just plainly age-inappropriate!).

I now use Firefly to create my own images when needed, and it has transformed how I incorporate them in class. Adobe, as far as I am aware, is generally very good at using ethical sources, and so I have a broad spectrum of options for the art I use in class:

1. Using copyright-free images (the majority)

2. Paying the rights for copyrighted images via Adobe Stock

3. Creating my own images and videos with Firefly

4. Commissioning with an artist (as for my published books)

Below are some examples of images I have created to suit specific texts, followed by an example of use in a warm-up activity. You will note that some are less than perfect, but I they actually present with an opportunity to discuss why and compare with they should look like.

Other examples for the use of these images are the following:

• picture-talk

• spot the difference

• straightfoward images for Orbergisation

• 
  

• AI uses for Latin and Greek teaching and learning: proofreading

I proofread my own work all the time. I have been doing this for years, and AI has made it easier and better. As for students, that is a totally different ballgame, and I will discuss this in the final section.

4. AI uses for Latin and Greek teaching and learning: dialogical search

Dialogical search saves time and can help you find answers to quickstart new projects. Imagine for example I need a passage from Ovid where plenty of body parts are mentioned to work on that vocabulary: Claude will promptly give me lines and list all the body parts that are mentioned in them, contrasting them and helping me choose one that I can then go on to study in a proper edition of the text.

What AI cannot do for Latin and Greek teaching and learning

1. Entering a vocabulary list and asking it to provide a coherent and appealing story

There has been much hype about this recently, but my experience is that the Latin produced is soulless and boring. Sure, you can create drills, but there are so very many drills in existence already! When I create activities for my students, I include inside jokes, tailor the structures to what they need in a particular moment in time and try to make them as relevant as possible. If I just want a simple and plain drill, there are many high-quality published ones, including in Suburani online, which is my first choice for teaching all the way up to A-Level.

So back to stories, the answer is "No", I do not write my Latin stories with Claude or Chatgpt because there really is no point in doing that. Plus, writing stories is one of my favourite parts of the job, and a great way to bring some balance to the trite stories that tend to appear in exams. Trips to the moon, anyone?

2. Using AI as an interlocutor to practise Latin and Greek for A Level or GCSE

As things stand at the moment, you can sustain a conversation with AI in Latin, and it will be decent. But there is a catch here: it will not really be a conversation. It will be a series of predictive questions and answers.

As for Greek, it just does not produce, in my current experience, decent enough Greek to spend time working on it.

An obvious use would be to create a custom GPT or a skill to talk to a made-up Roman, or a famous one. That, as it stands, is fraught with challenges at the moment, and I would not let my students on their own with AI for many reasons, but one stands out: bias is prevalent, and there is not much challenge to preconceived ideas, as AI churns out whatever is already there.

Think of the fabulous work that has gone on behind the scenes, particularly with Suburani and the Cambridge Latin Course, looking at how disabilities, the role of women or race are presented. This is the foundation I like to see in the stories I use with my students, and not an unpredictable, dangerous and superfluous concoction of what AI can find online. One day publishing houses (in whatever shape they take) will produce well curated chat options linked to their projects, and at that point there might be a new horizon.

3. Marking students' work

When I was working in the classroom, I did not love marking because there was so much of it. Now that I tutor individuals and small groups, marking is a much more important part of my job. While I mark, I am starting a conversation with the student, understanding their position and preparing for future work. I want to look at this holistically with my interactions in class, and so I do not outsource my marking.

Now, if my homework were only a revision drill, then that would be very different. For drills, there is a case for automatic marking so that students can get their feedback immediately, try again, and then the results can be used as part of a bigger picture. Claude GPT can create these drills superbly well, and build all sort of reporting around them, but this is not the personal insight I look for.

4. Communicating with parents and giving feedback

I write all my reports based on close observation, evaluation and progress tracking and, whereas that may include some data sourced from online drills, I never outsource this type of writing because

What we actually want AI to do for Latin and Greek teaching and learning

I have now shared (which was not easy!) how I use AI at the moment. But how about how I direct students to use AI?

Caveats for the use of AI by Latin and Greek students

I do not assign any homework on AI and actively discourage students from using it independently, because their job is generally not to find the right answers but to practise a skill and develop their understanding through the activities I design for them or assign on platforms I trust. When they write an essay or use longer sentences, they are expected to think through their points, ask the right questions, build their own argument and write it donw. In fact, handwriting is the tool of choice for all this, except when students will be using a computer during the exam, but AI must be off (including Copilot and Grammarly at the creation stage).

In class, things can look different. For example, I may give them a picture to describe in Latin. They then need to enter that description into Firefly to see if the detail they provided creates a close resemblance. And yes, you can give instructions to Firefly in Latin! I may also ask them to create an altered image for 'spot the difference' exercises. But as you can see, this is all monitored use.

In summary: I use AI as a tool to speed up certain logistical aspects of my work, and I am constantly exploring what it can and can't do. However, as a learner, I turn to books and humans, because languages are for communication, and we learn when we engage our feelings.

If I thought you could learn (and enjoy the learning) by talking to a computer, I would suggest it to my students. But the reality is that I myself attend online lessons with the teachers I choose, who create a fabulous atmosphere and motivate me to continue reading the classics and sharing them with others. Ultimately, I want no less for my students.

How about you? How do you use, or not use AI? Let me know in the comments or come to my Patreon to continue the conversation.

If you like what you read and would like to book some tutoring with me, I offer high-quality one-to-one classes and group programmes for students across the Latin learning range, including 13+ CE and scholarship, GCSE, A-Level and Latin I to through Latin IV and AP support. You read read more about my services on my tutoring and courses sections.