Asynchronous discussion forums remain a core learning space in higher education online courses, yet they frequently struggle with low participation, shallow contributions, or uneven engagement across learners. At the same time, faculty face growing pressure to manage discussion workload while maintaining high-quality interaction. Participants will examine specific, practical AI-supported strategies that improve prompt quality, deepen student responses, support equitable participation, and streamline faculty facilitation. Examples drawn from graduate and undergraduate courses across disciplines demonstrate how AI can be used to scaffold thinking, personalize engagement, and build genuine learning community. The session emphasizes responsible, transparent, and human-centered use of AI aligned with the TCC 2026 theme: leveraging creativity and purposeful design to enrich the online learning experience. The session also directly addresses risks—over-reliance on AI, loss of human voice, academic integrity concerns, equity in AI access, and the potential for biased generative outputs. Participants will learn strategies to mitigate these concerns while supporting faculty workload, student thinking, and classroom community.

Ultimately, this session is not about replacing human discussion with automated text. Instead, it offers a framework for using AI purposefully to enhance pedagogical design, remove barriers to engagement, and deepen the human experience of learning.