AI Beyond Writing: Karen Kossow of AI Powered Homeschool On Practical Everyday Use Cases for AI
An Interview With Cooper Harris
Create Custom Lesson Plans in Minutes
As a homeschooling parent, I use AI to turn rough ideas or curriculum gaps into full lesson plans tailored to my kids’ learning styles and preferences. Whether I need a project-based science unit study, or a simplified explanation of a complicated history topic, AI helps me build flexible, engaging lessons fast. All without reinventing the wheel, spending tons of time (or money!), and getting frustrated.
AI technology has quickly moved beyond being a tool for generating written content. It is transforming industries with practical, real-world applications that solve everyday problems and streamline operations. From healthcare to logistics, customer service to personal productivity, the possibilities seem endless. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Karen Kossow.
She is a writer, certified master life coach, and founder of AI Powered Homeschool. After a decade of navigating homeschooling and parenting as a neurodivergent mother raising two autistic children, Karen became passionate about making self-care, education, and community support more accessible for overwhelmed families.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I came into the AI space after spending almost 5 years working as a copywriter and marketing agency owner. I saw how valuable AI was for helping me work with clients and grow my coaching business. One day I decided to see how it could help me with some homeschooling challenges I had. From there, AI Powered Homeschool was born!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Probably that I was able to free up so much time using AI as a business owner and homeschool mom, that I could co-found a non-profit that serves families struggling with Idaho’s ongoing caregiver crisis. It really is amazing what you can do when you know how to use AI!
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funniest mistake I made was not starting sooner. As someone who would describe herself as decidedly non-tech-y, I put off using generative AI models for a long time out of fear. The learning curve wasn’t as steep as I thought, and these tools are designed to be simple to use. My only AI mistake was not starting sooner.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My accountability partner, Jenn Landers, has been a huge source of inspiration, support, and gentle nudging (both when I’m doing too little and too much). When Chat GPT was first released, we were both working as copywriters. Her willingness to explore it was a deciding factor in me signing up as well. I definitely would not have the businesses I do today without her or her support.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview.
Which industries do you believe will undergo the most significant transformation due to AI over the next 1 to 3 years?
I think AI’s ability to transform how (and what!) we learn, combined with how students demonstrate that knowledge and learning, will be the most significant change. I’m also eager to see the impacts of AI on the healthcare industry…the last specialist appointment I took my child to, the clinician used an AI scribe tool and told me how much time it saved him so he could better focus on patient care.
In your view, which aspects of the consumer experience — whether in retail, travel, healthcare, or other sectors — are poised to look dramatically different because of AI? And what do you think will remain largely unchanged?
I think we’ll see more automation, especially in customer service roles. As we move toward an AI-powered future, having human interaction will become more important to people, and unfortunately, probably more expensive. AI tools have the ability to transform the way we receive healthcare, both by improving diagnostics, shortening wait times for care, supporting physician burnout, and getting care to underserved areas.
For companies aiming to develop consumer-facing AI tools, what is the most important piece of advice you’d offer?
Make them idiot proof and comfortable to use…and I say this as someone who puts herself in the technological “idiot” category. So far, most of the AI tools I’ve used have been simple to use, and I appreciate that.
Are there any AI use cases you’re currently exploring — or excited about — that haven’t yet attracted much attention but have the potential to reshape how businesses function or how we live our everyday lives?
Right now, I’m exploring how to best serve my audience of homeschool parents (and students). We’re working on several new resources. Many of them marry concepts of AI organizing, planning, and structure with themes of self-care, resilience, and support. I see huge growth potential in using AI to support those who struggle with executive function challenges.
How do you think about balancing AI-driven automation with the human element? In which areas is it essential to keep people meaningfully involved?
While most companies strive to make the interface between user and technology simple, I feel we have to make sure that folks understand they’re working with a machine and not a real person. We’re so lonely, especially here in the US, I’m concerned folks will “forget” they’re working with an AI tool and start forming human-like relationships with it.
Can you share a surprising or particularly innovative everyday use of AI you’ve encountered that most people wouldn’t expect?
I think using it for homeschool planning and helping busy parents with life admin is one of the best ways to use AI tools…and it’s not something many people are aware of or doing! Right now, I’m working on a resource to help homeschool parents get the self-care they need so they can continue homeschooling their kids even when times are challenging.
What is one common misconception people have about integrating AI into daily life, and how would you clarify or correct it?
There are two…first, that it’s hard to do, and second that using AI tools in education is “cheating” and shouldn’t be allowed. It is super simple to use LLM tools like Chat GPT. Having the right prompts helps you get off to a great start. As for the issue of “cheating,” I think parents and educators have to look at an individual student’s needs, goals, learning desires, and future employment plans. The ability of AI to support struggling learners is huge, and we shouldn’t overlook the impact AI tools can have on special education students. I see this as a significant accessibility issue, and am eager to see how it plays out over the next few years.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Can you please share “Five Practical Everyday Use Cases for AI”?
1. Create Custom Lesson Plans in Minutes
As a homeschooling parent, I use AI to turn rough ideas or curriculum gaps into full lesson plans tailored to my kids’ learning styles and preferences. Whether I need a project-based science unit study, or a simplified explanation of a complicated history topic, AI helps me build flexible, engaging lessons fast. All without reinventing the wheel, spending tons of time (or money!), and getting frustrated.
2. Turn Brain Dumps Into Action Plans
When I’m overwhelmed, which happens a lot, I dump all my to dos or worries into a prompt and ask Chat GPT to help me sort it all out. It might return a color coded schedule, priority checklist, or just the next three things I should focus on based on my priorities. It’s like having a 24/7 non-judgemental assistant who can make sense of my personal brand of chaos.
3. Writing Everyday Communication
From tricky emails to blog posts, to that difficult text I don’t know how to phrase, AI is my go-to sounding board! I’ll feed it my messy version, and it helps me revise the tone or clarify what I’m trying to say. And the best part is it saves me time and emotional energy that I can better use in other ways.
4. Meal Planning
In our house, we have a lot of dietary restrictions, and Chat GPT has been a huge help when it comes to menu planning and meal prep ideas. It’s also great for coming up with ideas when you were supposed to head to the grocery store 4 nights ago and still haven’t made it. It’s faster than a search engine or Pinterest, and way more tailored.
5. Strategize and Troubleshoot…Without Going Down the Rabbit Hole
Whether I’m planning a business launch, trying to figure out if a supplement is causing side effects, or navigating homeschool challenges, I use AI to help me organize, research, and spot patterns. It’s not a replacement for expertise, but it makes a great starting point where you can research more fully (which I always suggest!)
Is there an AI tool or app you personally use and love?
Chat GPT really is my favorite, for all around use. As a podcaster, I have a special place in my heart for CastMagic which has been a huge time saver for me.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
It doesn’t have much to do with AI, but I recently co-founded a nonprofit called Fair Care Idaho. Our goal is to strengthen the direct care workforce in Idaho. Part of that is to compensate family caregivers for the work they do caring for their disabled loved ones. Not only does this reduce overall healthcare costs and reliance on “handout” programs like housing assistance, food stamps and social security disability benefits, it also improves outcomes, strengthens families, and reduces the burden on the healthcare system.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I’d love to have lunch with Brené Brown. Her work on belonging, shame, resilience resonates deeply with me. She often talks about how we can live a more authentic and soul-centered life, while also working to make the world a better place for others, and that’s the same way I’d like to see AI used in the future!
How can our readers further follow your work online?
To explore practical ways AI can support your everyday homeschooling life, please visit me at AI Powered Homeschool. For updates on all my projects, including my writing, coaching, and advocacy work, connect with me on LinkedIn…it’s the best way to stay in the loop with everything I’m building.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Thank you for this opportunity to share more with your audience. Have a great day.
About The Interviewer: Cooper Harris is a California-based entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Klickly, a data-driven, AI platform that powers distributed commerce. Emerging as a pivotal figure in the west coast tech scene, Cooper has won Los Angeles Business Journal “Innovator of the Year,” InformationAge’s Women in I.T. “Entrepreneur of the Year” was nominated for Google’s “Young Innovator” award, L’Oreal’s “Digital Woman of the Year,”and was named by Adobe as a “Top Data Thought-Leader” at Cannes, alongside execs at JP Morgan Chase and Burger King. Harris invented a data technology that leverages AI to facilitate distributed commerce on 25M online destinations. This significant innovation creates a huge efficiency in the market — the platform’s machine-learning identifies best-fit matches for commerce opportunities and uses sophisticated algorithms to understand the consumer to both promote and power transactions.
Cooper has been invited to speak on eCommerce, tech, data, and AI at international summits including the United Nations, CES, Cannes Lions, Money 20/20, SXSW, ShopTalk, Sundance, Los Angeles TechWeek, London Technology Conference, and Jason Calacanis’ LAUNCH Scale. Ms. Harris speaks on topics including data / FinTech / Retail Tech, fostering women in STEM, and disrupting the status quo using technology/innovation. Cooper also writes about eCommerce, innovation, data and AI, and using tech to change the world. She is a contributor to Forbes and HuffPost and has been featured in Inc., Fast-Company, Entrepreneur, Mashable, Women2.0 and more.
