20/07/2026
BEYOND THE PROMPT: Garden We Forgot to Grow
Looking at the fresh field of flowers, one must think that creativity has always resembled a garden. Every idea begins as a seed, watered by curiosity and strengthened by seasons of failure before it finally blooms into something beautiful. Schools were meant to be the soil where those seeds could grow. But what if in the rush to admire the perfect flowers, we tend to forget the joy of watching students plant them in the first place?
Nowadays, artificial intelligence has been a big part of education. As reported by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), over 83.4% of Filipino students use AI chatbots for schoolwork, making the Philippines one of the region's most active users of generative AI in education. But aside from the guidance that a student can seek from AI chatbots, they also use this to create publication materials (PubMats) for school pages—posters, announcements, and graphic designs, all generated by a single prompt.
However, some people might have underestimated the reality behind these AI generated PubMats. Because the truth is, with just one click, hours of editing, designing, and thinking gets thrown out the window. Although convenient, it takes not only the opportunity to design, but also the opportunity to learn. Maybe that is where the real question begins: If classrooms are meant to develop artists, designers, and skillful students, why are some institutions choosing convenience over cultivation? In the chase of innovation, are we somehow mistaking “normalizing” to “embracing"?
Because the concern extends far beyond a single publication material. It goes beyond the future of Filipino artists. What becomes of Philippine visual storytelling if young artists spend more time writing prompts than learning color theory, composition, and the process of making art? The danger is not that schools are embracing AI. The danger is when, in normalizing the use of AI, they stop empowering the artists they were meant to nurture and create artificial minds instead.
But maybe sometimes, we get lost in the midst of joining the bandwagon. Indeed, it's often easy to find comfort in things that promise to make life simpler—but it does not mean that students should forget the beauty of learning and creating. Because just like a paintbrush, it has never claimed credit for the painting; everyone knows the masterpiece belongs to the artist. AI should be no different—it may help shape an idea, but it is still the student who imagines, creates, and gives it life.
Perhaps that is what deserves remembering. Schools should be the place to cultivate potential and talent—not hinder it by tolerating them to take the shortcut. True enough, creativity has always resembled a garden, and the most beautiful flowers are never the ones that appeared overnight, but the ones that were patiently nurtured from seed to bloom. Using AI is not bad, but it should be used with responsibility. Because one day, the posters we publish will be forgotten—but the artists who failed to be nurtured may never discover who they were capable of becoming; of what they can do, and who they are beyond the prompt.
✍️: Quinoa Soleil Castillo
🎨: Austin Panganiban
