Abstract
Generative AI can and should be used to enhance teaching and learning capabilities. But while we ask how AI can make us better, we should also recognize the ways our humanity enhances our role as teachers. When AI can increasingly take on everything from delivering learning content to effectively answering questions in natural language, the question becomes: What is a human being standing at the front of a classroom there to do? In our new reality, principles like professional detachment may no longer make sense. Students' need for inspiration, validation, and connection — sometimes minimised in modern higher education — may become the primary metrics of successful human teaching. Are we prepared to deliver?