Why We Need to Rethink Course Creation Now That Everything is Open Book
In the last three years, I've built three different courses. The first one? I spent hours researching what I was going to include in just the first module. Being so used to normalizing dumping hours into developing curriculum, the academy had raised me on this idea: you have to over-research and perfectly curate every new piece of information for the “right” kind of teaching.
Did it ever really work? Eh? (shrugging)
Actually, literature does a fair amount of arguing that we don’t know which pedagogical methods help people learn. And oh my gosh, if that's where the academy is, then what are we as course creators faced with in knowing what's good enough?
As I grappled with this, I put all my effort into those early modules, only to eventually burn out. I'd been socialized to believe burnout was an inevitable part of the seasons of my career.
Oh wait—but I forgot I was trying to do this a whole other way. A new way that leaves me freer to diversify, both in work tasks and finances, but also in life tasks.
Developing courses was supposed to help with burnout, not reinforce its inevitability.
It turns out, I was doing some hiding in my work (Tara Mohr writes really well about this, especially for women) to protect myself from some of the scarier stuff like actually getting feedback.
Fast forward three years: I've learned how AI can help create courses much faster—but more importantly, teach your students even better.
Sure, faster in itself is better. I mean, if we want to prevent burnout than less time building should be a huge benefit, right? But, what has surprized me about using AI in developing courses is not necessarily in the speed or amount that can be produced on a whim. It's how to create the kind of learning experience that actually changes people—even when they have access to every piece of information imaginable.
This realization forced me to question what course creation could look like when everything (or most things) become open book.
Information Isn't Necessarily the Changemaker
I've been in school for what feels like an embarrassingly long time. Not technically anymore, but sometimes I feel like I am because I keep taking courses. And honestly? I love it. I always will. But here's what I've learned from being both a lifelong learner and someone who now creates learning experiences: most of my foundational learning came from graduate school, but it didn't teach me as many skills as I thought it would.
Graduate school taught me how to learn—which was invaluable. But the real skills? Those came from experience, from being in the lab so to speak, working with the research and clinical tools that brought learning to life.
We’re in this fascinating moment where AI has made information incredibly accessible, but it's also revealed something important: information was never really the bottleneck for change. Application was. Integration was. The ability to take an insight and actually use it in your specific context—that's where the real work happens.
Despite this truth, we still get stuck in wanting to offer anything and everything in our courses. The goal to teach others can feel like a calling on the inside, but on the outside we can get stuck quite easily. In fact, we can hide at every stage of development. We get “stuck at the whiteboard”, planning and designing, avoiding the scarier work of finding out what our ideal clients actually think. We avoid marketing. We avoid finishing. We avoid the simple approaches that might actually work because they feel too easy, too vulnerable.
I do this too. There's something safer about spending weeks researching the perfect framework than asking a potential client what they think about what you offer.
Building Learning Labs, Not Lecture Halls
When I think about the most effective learning experiences I've had—and the ones my clients describe as truly life-changing—they all share something in common. They weren't just about receiving information. They were about getting your hands in the dirt (figuratively and literally) with tools that helped you discover things for yourself.
This is why I'm so excited about what becomes possible when we use AI not just to pump out more course content, but to create what I think of as learning labs. Spaces where students can experiment, reflect, and develop insights that stick because they've worked for them personally.
Instead of asking "How can AI help me create more content faster?" I've started asking "How can AI help me create tools that support deeper change?"
The difference is everything.
Six Ways AI Can Shift How We Teach
After working with coaches and therapists who are building their own learning programs, I've found six core areas where AI can genuinely change course creation—not by replacing the human connection, but by amplifying it.
Research & Topic Development
The old way: Endless reading and notes, falling down research rabbit holes, trying to synthesize scattered information into coherent lessons.
The AI-enhanced way: Use deep research tools to summarize research through your specific lens. Ask for frameworks tailored to your audience. Get current information organized in a way that fits your teaching style.
I love conversations that start with "Summarize the latest research on X, focusing on practical applications rather than clinical details. Give me resources and references and let’s go from there."
Suddenly, what used to take hours of research becomes a focused conversation that generates exactly what you need.
Script Writing That Sounds Like You
Here's something I see constantly: brilliant coaches & course creators who know their material inside and out, but turning that knowledge into teachable, engaging lessons feels overwhelming.
Voice memos become your best friend here. Walk around your neighborhood talking through a concept. Upload that audio transcript then ask ChatGPT or Claude to transform it into a warm, conversational script that maintains your natural tone.
The key is training AI to recognize your voice patterns first. Feed it examples of how you naturally explain things, and it becomes incredibly good at helping you organize your thoughts without flattening your personality.
Visual Design Without the Energy Drain
I used to spend hours on slide design—hours that could have been spent on the actual teaching. Tools like Gamma.app can generate slide outlines and visual frameworks that don't require you to start from scratch.
But here's the interesting part: you can also ask AI for visual metaphors that reinforce your key themes. Instead of generic stock photos, you get imagery that actually supports the learning.
Tools for Deep Reflection and Application
This might be where AI really shines in course creation. Instead of just delivering information, you can create tools that help students work through concepts at their own pace—and actually integrate what they're learning.
Here's what I mean: I use reflection questions in a thoughtful order, then have AI summarize and analyze responses using frameworks I believe help people grow and change. This deepens students' overall understanding of themselves, not just the topic.
For example, I might create prompts that help someone explore their relationship with visibility, then train AI to analyze their responses for patterns around fear, values, and readiness. The student gets insights I might not catch in a group setting, and I can see where they need more support.
When I first started building these tools the qualitative researcher within me was exhilarated, there were so many possibilities of conducting fascinating analysis of content, story, and human phenomena.
Marketing That Flows from Your Teaching
One of the most exhausting parts of course creation used to be feeling like I had to become a different person to sell my work. But when you use AI to transform your lessons, frameworks, and voice notes into emails, social posts, and launch content, your course material becomes your marketing foundation.
The authenticity is built in because you're literally sharing pieces of what you're teaching. No more feeling like you need to put on a performance to sell your work.
Scalable Personal Support
This is where the lab approach really comes alive. You can build onboarding flows, decision trees, and support tools that walk students through stuck points without requiring your constant presence.
You're not replacing yourself—you're creating multiple access points for the wisdom you have to share. I like to use custom GPTs to help students through bite-sized processes and focused skills.
What Teaching Becomes Possible
When I step back and look at what becomes possible with this approach, what excites me most isn't the efficiency or sheer productivity. It's how much more present and intentional I can be in the parts of teaching that matter most.
When I'm not spending hours perfecting slide transitions or trying to remember exactly how I explained a concept last time, I have more energy for the real work: helping people integrate new ways of thinking, supporting them through resistance, and holding space for the kind of change that only happens in relationship with another human being.
The AI tools don't replace the human connection that support transformation—they can create more room for it to flourish.
This feels especially important as we navigate this new landscape where everything is technically "open book." Our value as teachers isn't in being human search engines. It's in being guides who help people find their own answers and apply them in ways that actually create change.
Finding Your Own Teaching Laboratory
My invitation isn't to implement every AI tool available (that would be its own kind of overwhelm). It's to think about which aspects of course creation drain your energy without adding real value for your students.
Maybe you're spending too much time on research when you could be designing better reflection questions. Perhaps you're exhausting yourself with slide design when your energy would be better spent creating tools that help students integrate the material.
Or maybe, like me, you're hiding in the planning phase because it feels safer than finding out what people actually need.
Start with one area. Build one AI-enhanced tool. See how it changes not just your efficiency, but the quality of the learning experience you can offer.
The future of course creation isn't about competing with AI—it's about partnering with it to create the kind of learning experiences that only humans can design, but that technology can help us deliver with more intention and impact.
What becomes possible in your teaching when you're no longer holding every piece of the course creation process alone?
If this sparked ideas for how AI could transform your own course creation, I'd love to continue the conversation. The full training replay with specific tools and templates is available in my Facebook group for therapists and coaches building income and impact using AI. Come explore what's possible when teaching gets both easier and better.