Tutor-tested strategies
AI is transforming life and work across a variety of professions, including education. Despite concerns about academic fraud, plagiarism, and bias, many educators are now boldly considering AI-powered curriculum design and instruction. Educators are drawn to AI’s ability to quickly generate standards-compliant content that reflects instructional goals and teacher expertise through well-crafted prompts. Tools can help fight burnout by streamlining lesson preparation and personalizing learning. Customizable AI rooms and learning tools further leverage these benefits and enhance both group and individual instruction, including individualized instruction.
While AI tutors can provide personalized feedback, they still can’t replicate what human tutors do best: connect, empathize, and build trust. AI can simulate interactions, but lacks emotional understanding. Human tutors sense nonverbal cues such as nervousness, hesitation, and body language to demonstrate engagement and understanding. They also navigate ethical and cultural complexities and exercise moral judgment that AI simply lacks.
As e-learning continues to evolve, many educators are concerned that AI will replace the human element in education. But rather than threatening the role of tutors, AI can actually enhance it. By integrating large-scale language models (LLM) into live tutoring, educators can increase efficiency, personalize learning, and enrich engagement while keeping relationships at the center. Here are 10 practical, human-centered ways to incorporate LLM into your tutoring sessions.
1. Improving vocabulary skills
During live tutoring sessions, you will learn new vocabulary naturally through reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Maintaining a shared digital “vocabulary notebook” is a great habit, but creating review activities can be time-consuming. Use LLM to generate multiple-choice questions, matching tasks, gap-fill, or word bank activities based on the session’s vocabulary. Always check the accuracy of the AI’s work and adjust the difficulty to each learner.
2. Releveled text
If a passage proves to be too difficult or not difficult enough to read, the LLM can quickly adjust the complexity of the text. Upload or paste a passage and tell the model to adapt it to the target level. This allows instructors to meet students where they are in real time without wasting valuable time rewriting text manually.
3. Understanding the video
Videos strengthen listening skills and provide content knowledge across subjects. Copy and paste the video transcript (e.g. from YouTube) into the LLM to generate comprehension questions. Ask for a timestamped answer key so students can check their answers and find information in the video. This helps strengthen both listening comprehension and digital literacy.
4. Speaking and writing prompts
Generate speaking or writing prompts tailored to your students’ level, grammar goals, and learning goals. Promote autonomy and engagement by asking for three options so students can choose the one they want. Example: “Create three discussion prompts about renewable energy for B2 level students, each using the present perfect tense.”
5. Multiple genres
To balance expository reading, use AI to create creative texts such as short stories, poems, songs, and anecdotes about the same topic. Changing genres re-energizes learners and makes content memorable. For example, after studying the Byzantine Empire, have students write their own versions of the same theme, using short rhymes or humorous conversations.
6. Story where the main character is a student
Personalized stories motivate you. Provide details about the student’s interests, weekend activities, and hobbies and encourage LLMs to create a short story featuring the student as the main character. Add word count and difficulty parameters and ask the model to create comprehension questions. Always proofread your output for factual accuracy, balanced answer choices, and clarity.
7. Multiple opinions and safe discussion
Instructors bring a unique experience to a session, and AI can safely introduce diverse perspectives. Use persona prompts (e.g., “Act as a historian who supports…”) to simulate multiple perspectives in discussions and debates. By screen-sharing the AI’s answers, students can analyze the tone and quality of the argument. This approach enhances critical thinking and respectful discussion, especially in sensitive topics.
8. Real-time inquiries
Curious students often ask questions spontaneously. When a topic is outside of your immediate expertise, use AI to collaboratively scaffold your investigation. Enter student questions into LLM and examine their answers together to assess reliability, summarize key points, and identify sources. For younger learners, use age-appropriate tools to make exploration safer.
9. Language-based image prompts
Some LLMs now include image generation. Use this to practice your descriptive language. Create an image prompt in your target language and ask students to describe what they see. Compare the explanation to the original prompt and discuss similarities, differences, and vocabulary use. Allow students to create their own prompts and analyze the AI’s interpretations for added fun and feedback.
10. Progress report
Keeping students informed of their progress strengthens motivation and accountability. Instead of creating every message from scratch, use LLM to turn session notes into concise progress updates. Specify a tone such as encouraging, professional, or friendly, and include two positive points for each area of improvement. Be sure to customize and proofread before sending.
human advantage
These 10 strategies demonstrate how AI can enhance, rather than replace, human teaching. Tutors remain the bridge between data and empathy, interpreting emotions, ethics, and curiosity that AI cannot replicate. Because the LLM handles the day-to-day preparation, educators can focus more energy on what matters most: building relationships, understanding learners, and fostering growth. AI makes tutoring more efficient, personalized and creative, but humans will always be at the heart of tutoring.
