What are we actually thinking about before we press enter on an AI prompt?

In this episode, I wanted to make my own thinking visible around how students interact with Generative AI, framing "prompt engineering" not as a mere technical gimmick, but as a foundational learning strategy and an emerging clinical communication skill.

I’m joined by first-year physiotherapy students Koby and Ned to dig into the reality of using AI in higher education. Together, we discuss:

• The Metacognitive Shift: How thinking about how we ask questions changes the depth of what we learn.

• The "Private Space": Why students use AI as a low-stakes environment to test out their uncertainty and expose gaps in knowledge before bringing them into the classroom.

• Preventing Cognitive Offloading: Navigating the fine line between AI that supports independent learning and AI that replaces critical thinking.

• A New Professional Skill: Why prompt literacy is becoming a vital piece of contemporary digital health literacy for future clinicians.

  
  

Whether you are an educator figuring out how to guide students through this landscape, or a practicing physiotherapist recognizing that your patients are already using AI at home to interpret symptoms and imaging long before they step into your clinic, this conversation is for you. Our ultimate value may not be to know more than AI, but to help people make sense of their interactions with it.

Show Notes & References:

• Featured Editorial: Vancampfort, D. & Van Damme, T. (2026). When patients bring AI into physiotherapy: Why and how clinicians should engage? Physiotherapy, 132. Read the abstract here: https://www.physiotherapyjournal.com/article/S0031-9406(26)00466-9/abstract