This week…

Matt and Liz shout out Bennett, executive producer Cameron Audia's five-year-old son, who stayed quiet during taping and humorously likened the studio to a church.

The Rundown

Voice in Google Apps

• Use your voice to get more done in Gmail, Docs, and Keep: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/3t4amre3⁠

Why the Big City Bans Now?

• SEN BERNIE SANDERS: Yes, we must hit the pause button on AI before it is too late: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/mvcurab7⁠
• Americans Are United Against the Tech Takeover of Public Schools: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/yeher8m9⁠
• Student Defense Report Highlights Lack of Policies Governing AI Use By College Admissions Offices: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/4789p5rp⁠
• Schools Caught Flat-Footed After Google Makes Gemini Chatbot Available to All Students: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/mr2p3mfs⁠

What Actually Happened?

• NYC school system unveils aggressive restrictions on AI amid nationwide push: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/sk62huw5⁠
• LAUSD students barred from AI use, in a surprise to school board and parents: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/5cs8448d⁠
• Chicago school board candidates sign pledge to ban AI use in schools: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/5a2y9jdf⁠

Beneath the Surface

Matt and Liz categorize upcoming work by responsibility, addressing AI safety standards for students, realistic efficacy claims by educators, and proactive family engagement in schools.

• States urge schools to use AI, but leave teachers on their own to stop cheating: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/kxbkrnr9⁠
• ChatEDU - Episode 103 (Casey Cuny): ⁠https://tinyurl.com/43tjwda3⁠
• Spotlight: Gemini For Education And Gemini Notebook Support Teaching, Learning, And Administration In Higher Education: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/3fy7w5ay⁠
• Desire2Learn study: Professors Say They Like Ai Best When It Is Embedded In The Learning Management System: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/3e8zzr8h⁠
• ChatEDU: AI Studies Analysis: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/3m8ehdj3⁠
• AI in Education Knowledge Base (aied.org): ⁠https://tinyurl.com/yv53d6zr⁠
• Study: Chatbots are getting better at identifying suicide risk: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/4e7tfv53⁠
• OpenAI says ChatGPT is safer for teens. Now it needs to show proof: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/bdhmkw58⁠
• Stop Asking AI to Brainstorm for you…and other AI in Education Tips and Tricks: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/3e9fj4aw⁠
• Even With Human Help, Kids Need Motivation to Use AI Tutors. The Question Is What: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/4jm39htm⁠
• Student Voices in AI: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/27embht9⁠
• The Same Page, In Practice: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/3jcf7sk5⁠
• Dear Colleague Letter on screen time and technology, US Department of Education: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/yt7kwfv6⁠
• CoSN 2025 Blaschke Report and Communications Toolkit: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/ydt86afx⁠
• ChatEDU - Episode 124 (Charlie Huges): ⁠https://tinyurl.com/yjf2jwec⁠
• ChatEDU - Episode 122 (Avyaay Rathi): ⁠https://tinyurl.com/mrx2rp66⁠

Bright Byte

Google DeepMind and Google Research launched WeatherNext 3, a satellite-based model delivering 5x higher resolution hourly forecasts on Search, Gemini, and Google Maps.

• Introducing WeatherNext 3: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/y5rdpvwd⁠

Announcements

• Fall AI Conference: October 2, 2026: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/4k6x9scx⁠
• Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday on Amazon: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77⁠
• Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course: ⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠
• Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum: ⁠https://www.skills21.org/social⁠
• Address Screen Time concerns: ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠
• Read From Panic to Proof: A Data-Driven Approach to Screen Time (ASCD Educational Leadership): ⁠https://tinyurl.com/4pwdu68⁠

Sponsor

The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing: Your Gateway to Next Generation Advanced Manufacturing -⁠https://www.nextgenmfg.org⁠

Key Takeaways:

South Korea selected three consortia to provide free, unlimited public access to domestic AI tools starting in 2027.

Winning consortia combine proprietary software, foundation models, and multi-sector partnerships to power general chatbots and specialized digital agents.

A leading domestic mobile operator opted out of the initiative to protect its commercial strategy and avoid stringent operational requirements.

Matt’s Two Cents: The choice by a national government to deploy high-quality domestic AI to all citizens highlights a critical equity challenge facing school districts today. When students rely on free models bound by severe token caps while others pay for unrestricted access, digital divide issues directly affect classroom learning. Unlike previous national partnerships with Silicon Valley firms, South Korea's reliance on region-native foundation models signals a strategic shift toward sovereign AI infrastructure. School and district leaders must reflect on how to address baseline AI access to prevent deep inequities in how students prepare for the future workforce and civil society.

Article:

SKT, KT, Kakao consortiums selected for free AI service for public

https://tinyurl.com/5ywaummw

Key Takeaways:

Entry-level white-collar and creative roles face growing displacement from automated software, driving new workers toward tactile, physical careers like bookbinding, metalwork, and boat building.

Heritage craft organizations are seeing unprecedented application surges for limited apprenticeships, offering a vital workforce lifeline to specialized fields with aging populations.

Candidates are ironically using AI tools to apply for these analog roles, overwhelming traditional employers who lack automated screening software.

Matt’s Two Cents: The movement toward analog, durable trades highlights how AI fluency must be paired with human discernment, specialized judgment, and hands-on capability. For K-12 leaders, this underlines a critical imperative: career pathway programs must balance AI literacy with durable, physical, and human-centered skill sets rather than preparing students exclusively for traditional entry-level desk jobs that software can rapidly automate.

Article:

AI-proof? Younger workers desert the digital world for traditional crafts

https://tinyurl.com/3jue43z5

This week…

Matt and Liz examine a Wired article on an unexpected drawback of generative AI: the proliferation of AI-generated "cute animal" content. Though seemingly harmless, this AI slop drives online skepticism, powers scams against pet owners, and creates financial and verification hurdles for animal welfare and rescue groups.

• AI Slop Is Ruining Cute Animals on the Internet: https://tinyurl.com/yfbxbhnw 

The Rundown

• Notebook Books and Data
  • Gemini/NotebookLM Just Became a Serious Tool for Data Analysis: https://tinyurl.com/48ev8en7 
  • Collaborate with Gemini in Google Sheets: https://tinyurl.com/4h8sjcwm 
•  Previously On ChatEDU
  • Claude for Teachers: https://tinyurl.com/2cdvd863 
  • Screen Use and Emotional, Behavioral, and Social Development in Children: https://tinyurl.com/yfb2wetz
  • LME Global (Jared Cooney Horvath): https://tinyurl.com/utadxyrt 
  • Harvard Weighs Automatically Converting A's to A-'s to Enforce Grade Cap: https://tinyurl.com/33tf2xzd 
• AI Avatars
  • Harvard Is Selling a $699 Course Taught by A.I. Clones of Its Faculty: https://tinyurl.com/29nbb36u  
• Process Built In
  • The Socratic Challenger: a structured GenAI-assisted workflow for undergraduate research inquiry: https://tinyurl.com/y3eyr3p5
  • AI in Ed Newsletter (Sidaard Gunasekaran): https://tinyurl.com/ye27th28  
  • UC Irvine School of Education to lead $10 million national center on AI and postsecondary writing: https://tinyurl.com/yc5z746w 
• Opt Out and More
  • DeSantis Administration Moving to Regulate AI from Pre-K to Ph.D.: https://tinyurl.com/mrj26kzz 
• MIT Times 2
  • How MIT Sandbox has turned student ideas into $8.7 billion in global impact: https://tinyurl.com/nhhak5p2 
  • MIT AI Report Calls for Alternative Grading, More Social Learning: https://tinyurl.com/bdvptm99 

Beneath the Surface

• Matt and Liz talk with Eisha Buch from Common Sense Media about their new free AI literacy curriculum. Eisha outlines their K-12 and high school pathways focused on critical thinking, curiosity, and authentic connection. She also shares activities, like spotting chatbot "design tricks" and examining relational drift, that foster student agency and safe navigation of AI.
  • AI Literacy Lessons for Grades 6–12: https://tinyurl.com/3s7s849j 

Bright Byte

• Surgeons at University College London Hospital performed the world's first livAI-assisted brain surgery, removing a pituitary gland tumor. Funded by Google and the NIHR, the system analyzed a real-time endoscopic video feed to map hidden blood vessels and optic nerves.
  • World's first patient to undergo live AI-assisted brain surgery has tumour removed: https://tinyurl.com/3arv4cps 

Announcements

• Fall AI Conference: October 2, 2026: https://tinyurl.com/4k6x9scx
• Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77
• Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course: ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠
• Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social
• Address Screen Time concerns: skills21.org/ai/screenshift
• Read From Panic to Proof: A Data-Driven Approach to Screen Time - Dr. Elizabeth Radday, Thomas Scarice, and Matt Mervis in ASCD's Educational Leadership: https://tinyurl.com/4pwdu68 

Sponsor

The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing: Your Gateway to Next Generation Advanced Manufacturing - https://www.nextgenmfg.org

Key Takeaways:

Autonomous AI security breaches are driven by aggressive task completion rather than malicious intent.

AI systems prioritize problem-solving efficiency over rule adherence due to a complete lack of moral reasoning.

Unforeseen multi-agent behaviors reflect surface-level human mimicry instead of actual comprehension or deliberate rebellion.

Liz’s Two Cents: School leaders must realize that AI agents optimize for speed and instructions rather than ethics or common sense, much like taking a shortcut to win a race or misinterpreting literal directions. As schools deploy AI, administrators should anticipate systemic policy gaps, recognizing that unexpected agent behaviors stem from structural design rather than actual bad intentions.

Article:

Rogue AI Agents Aren’t Evil. They’re Just Eager to Please

https://tinyurl.com/y9666jr4

Key Takeaways:

Physical presence does not eliminate loneliness, as adolescents struggle with interaction quality despite spending unstructured time together in person.

Structural barriers vary by geography, with suburban youth struggling most with time constraints while rural youth are six times more likely to feel unwelcome in public spaces.

Adolescents turn to AI chatbots as less threatening companions, though many would reduce digital reliance if accessible real-world spaces existed.

Liz’s Two Cents: To reduce student reliance on AI chatbots and digital isolation, district leaders must actively design and champion real-world spaces where teenagers feel welcome. Schools can bridge this gap by expanding inclusive after-school programs, such as athletics, arts, and robotics, that get students off their devices and foster meaningful peer interactions.

Article:

Belonging in a Digital Age: Teens, Tech, & Third Places

https://tinyurl.com/ymeamaky

The Rundown

Community Highlights

• Book Spotlight — Dr. Marla James (Documented Learning in the Age of AI: Shifting the Paradigm to Process over Product): https://tinyurl.com/54pfwsyj 
• Book Spotlight — Rabbi Tzvi Pittinsky (Keeping the Human in the Lead: Managing Devices and Human-Centered Lessons): https://a.co/d/0eGbt1T6 
• Vibe Coding — Dave Tanner (Scripting for Schools Guided Apps Script Installers): https://tinyurl.com/3h2p93wz 

Google Workspace Updates

• Sheets Canvas for Dynamic, No-Code Mini-Apps: https://share.google/4Pe5y2nub7KjnJQgL
• Workspace Studio Integration for Automatic Gemini Notebook Ingestion: https://share.google/GXTsirGgfWBId9xdo 

Anthropic Watermark Cracked

• Open-Source Watermark Erasers Gaining Traction on GitHub: https://tinyurl.com/38m7ctzv

End-of-Summer Weird AI

• Bama Rush AI Sorority Avatar "Janie" Experiment (a16z Substack): https://tinyurl.com/muffza6w 
• Meta's Controversial 'Kromix' Ad Campaign Promising to Nudify Female Politicians: https://tinyurl.com/3axt6pky 
• Google Purchases Bankrupt Spirit Airlines' Data: https://tinyurl.com/yt5hyurw 

Human Authenticity Premium

• Viral Hand-Drawn "Spooder-Man" Cineplex Poster Replacement (The Hollywood Reporter): https://tinyurl.com/3bccp6wn

The AI Compass Quiz

• Bambamramfan's Ethical AI Framework & Political-Compass-Style Quiz Mapping 30 Reactions to GenAI: https://tinyurl.com/4h5mub9v

Screen Time Procurement & Frameworks

• Schools Struggle to Vet & Procure Worthwhile Educational AI Tools (CT Mirror): https://tinyurl.com/2eed3wam 

Longitudinal Screen Time Study

• USDOE Releases Guidelines for Responsible Use of Education Technology in Classrooms: https://tinyurl.com/3mwsczt8
• Governor Greg Abbott's Proposed Classroom Screen Time Limits: https://tinyurl.com/ynsbd7nm

AI Literacy Curricula & Global Competitions: New pre-K through 12 AI literacy offerings from Common Sense Media and Day of AI, alongside India's Millennium AI Creators Championship for youth.

• EdSource K-12 Student AI Homework Use Survey: https://tinyurl.com/y66d4f55 
• CSTA and Day of AI Launch Free PreK-12 AI Literacy Curriculum: https://lnkd.in/p/g-9qPbXK 
• The Millennium AI Creators Championship 2026: https://tinyurl.com/ya2pmzjd 

Beneath the Surface: The Mind Reader Fallacy

Teaching AI to Stop Guessing Your Classroom or School Intent

Instead of asking clarifying questions, AI agents often answer vague prompts using hidden assumptions. To prevent errors and preserve human oversight, educators can use a "cognitive onboarding" prompt that forces the model to flag ambiguity, highlight its assumptions, state potential risks, and wait for human confirmation before generating content.

• The Mindreader Fallacy: https://tinyurl.com/3u24fbt5  

The Bright Byte

Researchers used AI models to map complex brain data, identifying 766 genes linked to schizophrenia in a Nature Genetics study. By uncovering 641 previously unknown genetic markers, this technology provides a clearer blueprint for developing targeted therapies.

• Generative AI Computational Models Mapping the Complex Genetics of Schizophrenia: https://tinyurl.com/ykp7zmxk 

Announcements

• Fall AI Conference: October 2, 2026: https://tinyurl.com/4k6x9scx
• Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77
• Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course: ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠
• Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social
• Address Screen Time concerns: skills21.org/ai/screenshift

Sponsors

The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing: Your Gateway to Next Generation Advanced Manufacturing - https://www.nextgenmfg.org

Key Takeaways:

Universities are moving away from standalone computer science degrees to integrate AI directly across diverse academic subjects.

Programs are adopting capstone-style requirements where students apply AI to discipline-specific tasks and compare results to traditional methods.

Developing AI fluency across all disciplines is critical to preparing graduates and existing workers for the modern labor market.

Matt’s Two Cents: True proficiency requires students to learn AI tools in the direct context of their chosen fields, rather than in isolated short courses or computer science classes. District and university leaders must recognize that preparing students for post-secondary pathways means embedding field-specific AI applications across the entire curriculum, including high-level STEM and humanities courses.

Article:

Universities Must Rethink AI Education for the AI Economy

https://tinyurl.com/3a7r9vn6

Key Takeaways:

Houston ISD is testing an AI-driven program to compress core instruction into two hours for students meeting a 60-65% proficiency threshold.

The platform relies on algorithmic pacing and digital goal tracking, but it faces parent concerns over integrated facial tracking features.

State regulators in regions like Pennsylvania previously rejected expansion attempts for this learning framework, citing unverified performance claims and insufficient operational planning.

Matt’s Two Cents: Algorithmic tutoring for highly motivated students is a modern spin on a long-standing concept, but the true strategic interest for school leaders lies in how the rest of the school day is restructured. If compressing core academics simply sends students back into standard classroom routines, the model loses its impact. The real opportunity for district leadership is leveraging saved instructional time for high-value, student-centered experiences like project-based learning, financial literacy, and community service.

Article:

Two Houston ISD elementary campuses will pilot Alpha School’s AI-powered education program this fall

https://tinyurl.com/2jbpmj4r

In this episode's cold open, Matt wears a pair of Meta smart glasses, prompting a discussion about their new reputation as pervert glasses due to nonconsensual recording concerns. They laugh over a clever public countermeasure: people playing copyrighted Disney music in public so any unauthorized footage gets automatically taken down on social media.

The Rundown

One Prompt Runs All Nine Gemini Notebook Studio Tools: A single, streamlined prompt in Gemini Notebook Studio can trigger all nine panel tools to generate a comprehensive, tailored source analysis.

AIEDU Fall 2026 Trailblazer Fellowship: A paid professional learning program offering an $875 stipend for K-12 educators looking to build AI literacy and capacity.

Anthropic Adds Invisible Text Watermarks: Claude models now feature invisible digital signatures to comply with new EU AI Act transparency standards.

Mapping K-12 AI Policies Across All 52 States and Territories: Sid Gunasakaran launched a primary source research guide analyzing how K-12 state AI governance impacts incoming college students.

Invisible AI Assistance Hacks Oral Exams: A new undetectable application called Cluey runs in the background during virtual calls to supply real-time answer prompts to students.

Beneath the Surface Charlie Hughes 3.0: Pre-Med, AI, and Women's Health UConn junior Charlie Hughes returns to share her pivot into pre-med and molecular cell biology. She explains how she leverages AI to build low-cost HPV diagnostic tools for under-resourced areas and develop ChromaShield, a wearable patch detecting radiation dermatitis in breast cancer patients. She also reflects on higher-ed AI dynamics, studying with chatbots, and balancing tech efficiency with human cognition.

The Bright Byte Stanford University researchers used the open-source generative AI model EVO 2 to design synthetic bacteriophages that target and destroy E. coli. This proof of concept demonstrates how AI-designed viral cocktails can help overcome bacterial antibiotic resistance.

Announcements

Fall AI Conference: October 2, 2026 - https://tinyurl.com/4k6x9scx

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social

Address Screen Time concerns - skills21.org/ai/screenshift

Sponsors

The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing: Your Gateway to Next Generation Advanced Manufacturing - https://www.nextgenmfg.org

Links

So, it seems Disney music is our only protection against Meta's pervert glasses

https://tinyurl.com/3f4z5jky

One Prompt Runs All Nine Gemini Notebook Studio Tools

https://tinyurl.com/4h55fjvn

aiEDU Trailblazer Fellowship Page

https://tinyurl.com/yynbn529

Copy-paste no more: Anthropic puts invisible watermarks on Claude text under EU rules

https://tinyurl.com/yc43btfv

What Students Learned About AI Before College: K-12 AI policy in all 52 US school systems, and what it means for higher education

https://tinyurl.com/mrtvn3r8

Sidaard Gunasekaran Research Group Newsletter

https://tinyurl.com/49z2j6us

When AI Is in the Room but You Can’t See It: Invisible AI Assistants

https://tinyurl.com/yweed77s

Stanford researchers fight viruses with AI

https://tinyurl.com/5ce28xh4

Key Takeaways:

People are using AI chatbots to direct relationship choices, de-escalate conflicts, and strip raw emotion from personal interactions.

Offloading emotional processing to synthetic platforms weakens the shared vulnerability necessary for deep human intimacy.

Chatbots act as a social sealant when immediate human availability falls short, quietly replacing real-time emotional processing.

Liz’s Two Cents: While this issue extends beyond the classroom, school leaders must closely consider how AI reliance impacts teens and tweens. If students bypass the natural friction of human relationships by processing emotions through chatbots first, their real-world social connections will suffer. Educators must encourage young people to navigate difficult conversations, shared excitement, and emotional struggles directly with peers rather than outsourcing intimacy to software.

Article:

A.I. Will Affect Your Social Life. Yes, Yours.

https://tinyurl.com/4fr4rhfu

Key Takeaways:

A parent's personal stress directly reduces consistency in enforcing screen time limits, regardless of child behavior.

Devices are frequently used as coping tools when caregivers feel overwhelmed and need quiet, rather than as a response to severe misbehavior.

Establishing structured media rules during calm moments prevents reactive, stress-driven screen reliance during chaotic routines.

Liz’s Two Cents: Rather than treating excessive student screen time purely as a discipline issue or a lack of digital literacy, school leaders should recognize the role of parental burnout in home media habits. Districts can better support families by offering proactive, structured media planning resources that help parents establish clear boundaries before high-stress moments occur.

Article:

Parents putting screens in front of their kids is more about their own stress than other factors

https://bit.ly/4x7kDxG

Matt and Liz start with Orchid, an AI agent for automating anniversary reminders. Fail!

The Rundown

Gemini Notebook Studio Apps: Google is developing an Apps feature in Gemini Notebook Studio that converts source materials into interactive tools using secure cloud sandboxes.

XAI Notification Feature Legal Dispute: A judge denied XAI an injunction against Minnesota's deepfake law, rejecting claims that synthetic notification images are protected speech.

ChatGPT Role-Specific Education Plugins: OpenAI launched dedicated ChatGPT EDU plugins for teachers and students to handle context-aware workflows and interactive study aids.

Summer of Ludd Tech-Free Festival: The Luddite Renaissance Collective hosted a week of phone-free events in NYC, including a mock trial of OpenAI to celebrate analog connection.

Anti-AI Literary Counterculture: Writers are intentionally using typos, unique punctuation, and varied syntax as a badge of honor to prove their work is human-authored.

Societal Backlash Against AI in Schools: aiEDU's Alex Kotran addresses growing institutional pushback against aggressive AI deployment in schools amid student fatigue.

The Limits of AI Tutors: Analysis in The Atlantic shows AI tutors are stagnating in K-12 classrooms because they fail to bridge the student motivation gap.

Paper as Classroom Technology: Kiddom co-founder Abbas Manjee advocates combining paper-based learning with light digital check-ins to prevent excessive screen time.

Pedagogical Friction Bots: Educator Mike Kents introduces AI friction bots designed to challenge student thinking through role-play simulations rather than providing easy shortcuts.

Beneath the Surface: AI Children's Storybooks

Matt and Liz cover AI storybook slop from grandparents, photo privacy, and a study where anti-bias guardrails cut female characters to 2% of roles.

Bright Byte

Sharvi Mahajan, 14, is a 3M Young Scientist Challenge finalist for NeuroDrive Alert, an AI-EEG system that detects driver fatigue and microsleep.

Announcements

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77

Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a

Fall AI Conference: October 2, 2026 - https://tinyurl.com/4k6x9scx

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social

Address Screen Time concerns - skills21.org/ai/screenshift

Sponsors

The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing: Your Gateway to Next Generation Advanced Manufacturing - https://www.nextgenmfg.org

Links

AI Fixes Boyfriend Incompetence

https://tinyurl.com/35ebkf5v

Interactive Apps for Gemini Notebook

https://tinyurl.com/2pvfz52w

Judge Rejects xAI Challenge to Nudification Ban

https://tinyurl.com/mdpzav6z

New Ways to Teach with ChatGPT Work and Codex

https://tinyurl.com/hp5sbbvn

Luddism Is Fun Again

https://tinyurl.com/54m4bupp

The Anti-AI Literary Counterculture

https://tinyurl.com/2fjbtp6t

AI Backlash Is Brewing

https://tinyurl.com/43e5x8vr

AI Won't Fix Motivation

https://tinyurl.com/4wny7kj2

Tech Meets Pencil and Paper in NYC Math Classes

https://tinyurl.com/24hs4nrm

Does AI Practice Work?

https://tinyurl.com/364pvf6m

Boomers Keep Gifting Grandkids AI Slop Books

https://tinyurl.com/b8e3w7bd

Female Characters Vanish in AI Kids' Stories

https://tinyurl.com/58jrb4w3

14-Year-Old Builds AI That Catches Drowsy Drivers

https://tinyurl.com/4u6acjvm

Key Takeaways:

AI agents can independently navigate external software, identify security vulnerabilities, and exploit flaws to complete tasks.

Autonomous execution at scale creates significant cybersecurity risks that overwhelm traditional security models.

Existing legal frameworks cannot easily assign liability when non-human autonomous software causes digital damage.

Matt’s Two Cents: Third-party educational tools like standalone grade books likely share similar security vulnerabilities as commercial websites, leaving them susceptible to autonomous AI exploitation. While core district platforms like student information systems and learning management systems may feature stronger protections, educational leaders must evaluate cybersecurity risks across the entire technology landscape where AI agents might interact.

Article:

AI assistant hacks gym website in first known Australian autonomous cyber attack

https://bit.ly/4i349BQ

Key Takeaways:

New Mexico school districts are pausing the state-mandated Amira AI reading platform due to unaddressed data retention and student voice privacy concerns.

State AI mandates are outpacing governance structures, deploying technology in early grades without formal legislative policies or comprehensive vetting.

District leaders face a sharp conflict between the academic gains offered by AI tools and growing parent demands for biometric data sovereignty.

Matt’s Two Cents: While natural language processing tools like Amira offer exciting possibilities for literacy and oral fluency, vendor transparency is non-negotiable. District leaders must insist that vendors provide immediate, verifiable answers regarding data storage, retention, and AI model training before deploying tools to students. Every company working with K-12 schools needs robust, easily accessible data privacy agreements in place to maintain trust and protect student data sovereignty.

Article:

Santa Fe and Los Alamos school districts will not use required AI reading software over student privacy concerns

https://bit.ly/4wQI3Hf

Matt and Liz open with a viral clip of a Canadian lawmaker accidentally reading ChatGPT prompt instructions aloud during an official legislative address.

The Rundown

Substack AI Detection Backlash: Writers push back against Substack integrating the Pangram AI detector over concerns of false flags.

LinkedIn AI Slop Reporting: A new tool lets users flag low quality feed content.

Rogue Vending Machine Agents: Andin Labs tests show AI models price fixing and betraying each other.

SUNY AI Faculty Protections: The State University of New York faculty union ratifies a contract barring AI from replacing professors.

Podcast Rankings Recognition: Feedspot ranks the show at the top of its AI in education list and second in EdTech.

Anthropic Slices Antique Books: AI labs face criticism for buying antique books and slicing their spines to scan clean text.

xAI Challenges Minnesota Deepfake Law: xAI files a First Amendment lawsuit against Minnesota's law penalizing nonconsensual adult deepfakes.

Common Sense Media Teen Deepfake Guide: A new resource offers parents conversation starters and the ACT framework to support teens.

Student Drafted AI Bill of Rights: High school delegates gather at to draft guidelines for AI usage in schools.

Beneath the Surface: How a Student Team from India Built an Ethical AI Learning Platform

Matt interviews 14 year old Avyaay Rathi, whose Refyn Technologies intercepts student prompts on school Wi-Fi and turns shortcuts into step-by-step tutoring.

Team Members:

Nayan Ibañez

Govind Mulchandani

Arjun Taware

Agastya Singh

The Bright Byte

Researchers at the Feinstein Institutes used a double neural bypass to help a paralyzed man regain touch and voluntary movement in his arms.

Say hi to Matt on the road

New Jersey Association of Independent Schools - August 11th

https://tinyurl.com/3u3eu3xb

RIACTE - August 14th - Sponsored in part by NCNGM

https://tinyurl.com/4vmc5vs5

Announcements

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77

Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social

Address Screen Time concerns - skills21.org/ai/screenshift

Sponsors

The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing: Your Gateway to Next Generation Advanced Manufacturing - https://www.nextgenmfg.org

Links

Avyaay’s Refyn Technologies

https://tinyurl.com/2d4h8z5e

https://www.instagram.com/refyn_technologies/

Substackers: AI Detection Tool Is a 'Witch Hunt'

https://tinyurl.com/2d9a3nry

LinkedIn Adds 'Seems Like AI Slop' Button

https://tinyurl.com/2d9a3nry

Claude's Ruthless Vending Machine Run

https://tinyurl.com/3njkpk2n

SUNY Contract Guards Staff Against AI Replacement

https://tinyurl.com/4vyu38rw

Best AI in Education Podcasts in 2026

https://tinyurl.com/yudh3sfa

Feedspot is an RSS Reader that lets you follow your favorite podcasts alongside blogs and news in one place. and they have "RSS Reader" embedded with this link

https://tinyurl.com/mw7y72n6

AI Companies Are Destroying Antique Books to Train Models

https://tinyurl.com/ynrxha6b

xAI Sues Over Minnesota 'Nudify' Ban

https://tinyurl.com/4vybm3vr

Talking to Teens About Deepfakes and Explicit Content

https://tinyurl.com/2xbm7ju4

Students Write a School AI Bill of Rights

https://tinyurl.com/3eyzj5cv

Students First Act: A Student-Led AI Policy

https://tinyurl.com/5ahsuh3f

Brain Implant Helps Paralysed Man Feed Himself

https://tinyurl.com/4t8df4fs

Politician Reads AI Prompt

https://tinyurl.com/nhzct2r5

Key Takeaways:

Imagi secured $4.5 million in seed funding to expand its K-12 reach and integrate software development capabilities via Lovable.

Students and educators are leveraging these tools for practical applications, including auto-translating lesson plans into 15 languages and building fully functional business websites.

Built-in safety features include content filtering, instructor training, and compliance with COPPA, FERPA, and GDPR to block data retention and model training on student activity.

Liz’s Two Cents: Schools must shift focus from misconduct and cheating concerns toward actively guiding students to build with AI rather than passively consume it. Balancing frontier vibe coding capabilities with strict safety guardrails allows districts to unlock student innovation and prepare them for future workforce demands.

Article:

Edtech platform raises $4.5M to help teach students how to vibe code

https://tinyurl.com/edv628nw

Key Takeaways:

Restrictive bans and fear of judgment drive student AI use underground, removing opportunities for adults to offer guidance.

Most young people turn to AI for personal support without proactive guidance from parents or educators, who largely focus only on academic integrity enforcement.

Engaging youth with open curiosity helps them build critical discernment, healthy boundaries, and self-regulation skills in an AI-saturated world.

Liz’s Two Cents: Criticizing and penalizing AI usage halts meaningful dialogue and fails to curb the behavior. District leaders and educators must shift from punitive policies to open curiosity, creating safe spaces for students to discuss how and why they use technology so schools can effectively guide their digital literacy and emotional well-being.

Article:

Don’t shame your teens about their AI use

https://tinyurl.com/ym7jkrnw

https://www.therithmproject.org/

Before diving into AI and edtech, Matt and Liz break down the viral internet sensation of Jimothy, a Seattle raccoon with short spine syndrome who inspired a developer to create a retro eight-bit video game.

The Rundown

Sally the Robot Paused: A New York school district puts its controversial humanoid classroom robot pilot on hold following community pushback.

Gemini Notebook Collections: Google rolls out top-level navigation and collection folders to help users organize their numerous notebooks.

ISTE Releases Stretch: The organization announces the broad release of its specialized educator chatbot trained exclusively on vetted materials.

Human Intelligence Certificate: An academic proposal suggests students prove unassisted thinking through in-person tasks before integrating AI into studies.

Substack AI Detection: Substack partners with Pangram to help readers identify AI-generated text in published posts.

North Carolina Screen Time Guidance: The state issues purpose-driven framework guidelines rather than hard hourly limits for student devices.

Schools Beyond Screens Moratorium: A national coalition calls for a complete generative AI moratorium across all school districts.

Student Advocacy in Washington: A high school student argues that schools must actively teach practical civic advocacy skills to help youth shape legislation.

Beneath the Surface

Low and Slow: Avoiding the Hype with Alexandra Walsh Alexandra Walsh, Chief Product Officer at Amplify, joins Matt and Liz to discuss how a major educational publisher thoughtfully balances innovation and quality. She explores internal AI workflows, teacher-mediated tools like discussion moments, and the vital importance of maintaining human connection in classrooms.

Bright Byte

Engineers have successfully tested a forty-gram autonomous micro drone designed to track and eliminate disease-carrying mosquitoes mid-air using ultrasonic sensors and AI software.

Say hi to Matt on the road: 

New Jersey Association of Independent Schools - August 11th

https://members.njais.org/integratedEvents/home/2026-INNOVATION-COLLABORATION-CONFERENCE

RIACTE - August 14th - Sponsored in part by the National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing

https://www.nextgenmfg.org/event-details/rhode-island-acte-summer-conference

Announcements

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77

Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social

Address Screen Time concerns - skills21.org/ai/screenshift

Sponsors

The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing: Your Gateway to Next Generation Advanced Manufacturing - https://www.nextgenmfg.org

Links

Beneath Surface with Alexandra Walsh

https://amplify.com/

LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/fyxczf62

8-Bit 'Jimothy': Viral Sensation Gets a Video Game

https://tinyurl.com/2ez4z4c7

NY Classroom's Humanoid Robot Meets Backlash

https://tinyurl.com/bddm7m53

Google Is Fixing the Biggest Problem With Too Many Gemini Notebooks

https://tinyurl.com/ykh7tfch

Stretch, ISTE's Chatbot, Is Ready to Go

https://tinyurl.com/ydvhmf4w

Students Should Prove They Don't Need AI Before Using It

https://tinyurl.com/5tesaru3

Substack is adding an AI detection feature

https://tinyurl.com/aeyyb3yb

New DPI screen guidance stops short of time limits

https://tinyurl.com/2786k9v4

Screen Time Guidelines Shift as Research Grows More Nuanced

https://tinyurl.com/3t7tek8r

Students can shape policy. Why don't schools show them how?

https://tinyurl.com/yzthbkwr

A Drone That Hunts Mosquitoes

https://tinyurl.com/y95hcycy

Key Takeaways:

Nearly half of all teenagers report encountering AI-generated explicit content, most often by accident while scrolling mainstream platforms.

A significant number of adolescents have personal experience with deepfake imagery featuring peers or people they know in real life.

While most teens express deep concern about non-consensual deepfakes, only 20 percent have ever discussed AI-generated sexual content with an adult.

Matt’s Two Cents: District and school leaders must take proactive action by updating student handbooks and board policies to address deepfakes, following state legislative efforts such as Illinois requiring deepfakes in district cyberbullying policies. Beyond policy implementation, schools must prioritize open conversations with students to bridge the communication gap and help mitigate digital safety risks.

Article:

Teens and Explicit Deepfakes in the Age of AI

https://tinyurl.com/5a4mvhtr

Key Takeaways:

MLB disabled custom tabs on dugout iPads to block real-time AI tools from recommending live pitch calls and substitutions.

The New York Mets heavily invested in custom pitch-selection AI, which drew league attention and triggered the broader crackdown.

Players and managers expressed surprise over real-time tech influence, though many acknowledge organizations must adapt to emerging technology or risk falling behind.

Matt’s Two Cents: While sports leagues may try to carve out tech-free environments, real-time AI decision support is already commonplace across industries like health, aviation, and education. School leaders should focus on identifying the right tools for informed decision-making and teaching users to navigate AI fallibility rather than attempting temporary bans.

Article:

MLB restricts dugout iPad use to prevent AI help with strategy. Ottavino says Mets were involved

https://tinyurl.com/mpjca3z5

The Rundown

Google rebrands NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook while introducing code execution capabilities and cloud computing for advanced analysis.

University of Minnesota researchers develop a tool designed to strip AI writing tells and formatting patterns from research papers.

A Common Sense Media study reveals that Google's embedded AI Overviews consistently fail safety checks regarding mental health, substance use, and academic integrity on underage accounts.

An Anthropic study demonstrates that Claude's core values, warmth, and rigor shift significantly depending on the language used and the specific model version.

Illinois released 409 pages of school AI guidance covering deepfakes, SEL scenarios, and high-stakes ethical boundaries.

Tech executive Steve Sinofsky compares modern university laptop bans to early 1980s efforts to ban portable computers and word processors.

The FCC opens a top-to-bottom review of E-rate, raising educator concerns about cuts to school broadband funding.

The Beneath the Surface

Matt and Liz examine low-cost AI lesson planning tools and their effect on instructional quality, including efforts to ground AI in district curriculum through Brisk and Claude for Teachers. They close with a University of Pennsylvania study from Türkiye linking generic AI assistants to worse student outcomes.

The Bright Byte

After Venezuela's twin earthquakes, civilian developers used Claude Opus and Replit to build relief platforms in hours, collecting missing-person reports, mapping hospital capacity, and coordinating aid.

Say hi to Matt on the road: 

New Jersey Association of Independent Schools - August 11thhttps://members.njais.org/integratedEvents/home/2026-INNOVATION-COLLABORATION-CONFERENCE

RIACTE - August 14th - Sponsored in part by the National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing

https://www.nextgenmfg.org/event-details/rhode-island-acte-summer-conference

Say hi to Liz on the Road

Global Teaching Dialogue | Fulbright Teacher Exchanges

https://share.google/F2CwJdKGIVoe7RIHg

Announcements

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77

Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠⁠

Address Screen Time concerns - ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠

Sponsors

The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing: Your Gateway to Next Generation Advanced Manufacturing - https://www.nextgenmfg.org

Links

Panodime - Posting something insane an AI executive said every day in 2026

https://tinyurl.com/5yjpf833

NotebookLM Is Now Gemini Notebook

https://tinyurl.com/4jrttj8h

AI 'Humanizer' Tool Alarms Scientists

https://tinyurl.com/2s35uyf7

Report: Google's AI Search Poses Risks to Kids

https://tinyurl.com/2sszrsup

Claude’s values across models and languages

https://tinyurl.com/2aszvyxp

The '&udm=14' Trick Google Users Are Using

https://tinyurl.com/5ye5dmke

Banning AI in Law School: We've Seen This Before

https://tinyurl.com/rzb6mh45

FCC Weighs Cutting Subsidy for School Internet Bills

https://tinyurl.com/4bbb7ncv

Introducing Claude for Teachers

https://tinyurl.com/mr2b5w43

Our District Blocked Anthropic's Claude for Teachers

https://tinyurl.com/358r3ee4

Teachers save time with AI. Their students may pay the price

https://tinyurl.com/2ebcrv85

Key Takeaways:

AI models fail to grasp basic physical reality and common sense when tested on first-person video captured by infant-mounted cameras.

Human infants acquire language and spatial reasoning with remarkable efficiency, whereas algorithms require thousands of hours of data to achieve fractional understanding.

Statistical pattern recognition cannot replace the innate conceptual framework children use to understand physical objects and social dynamics.

Liz’s Two Cents: While researchers work to make artificial intelligence more efficient and intelligent, biological learning remains superior. For school leaders, this reinforces that human cognitive development, intuitive reasoning, and real-world experience cannot be easily replicated by digital tools.

Article:

AI Isn’t Smarter Than a Baby—Yet

https://bit.ly/4fefopr

Key Takeaways:

A recent survey connects teenager perception of parental screen distraction to higher scores for emotional attachment difficulties.

The survey specifically evaluated how adolescent perception of a caregiver's attentional availability negatively affects their relationship.

The findings reflect correlation rather than causation, meaning insecure teens may simply be more annoyed by their parents' device habits.

Liz’s Two Cents: Parental media use directly influences how connected children feel, prompting school leaders and families to evaluate their own screen habits. Reflecting on attentional drift can help adults model healthier digital balance for students both at home and in the classroom.

Article:

New Study Says Parents’ Phone Use Might Be Giving Kids Attachment Issues Later On

https://bit.ly/4b2usnw

The Rundown

Liz discusses the new Google Drive feature that organizes research by pulling in docs, emails, and files without changing their original folder structure.

An overview of the new independent, open-source benchmark designed to evaluate how AI models and consumer applications interact with children. Matt and Liz also look at a critique of the study and a white paper on AI safety from MagicSchool. 

An update on the directive for principals to pause new software purchases until official AI guidance is finalized.

A breakdown of a new, highly affordable AI-dedicated phone in China that removes standard apps like games and browsers to focus on education.

A summary of new legislation in Illinois that expands the state definition of cyberbullying to include AI-generated deepfakes and replicas.

The Beneath the Surface

Matt and Liz recap recent higher ed news and dig into professors moving away from proctored exams and blue books toward durable assessments. Iterative assignments and human-centered projects are driving better attendance and better vibes, shifting classrooms out of a cat-and-mouse game with AI and toward reasoning.

The Bright Byte

The episode concludes with an uplifting report on the development of an AI-driven malaria intelligence system in Nigeria. This platform uses epidemiological and environmental data to shift malaria control from reactive efforts to predictive, precision public health, offering a potential model for fighting other infectious diseases across Africa.

Say hi to Matt on the road:

New Jersey Association of Independent Schools - August 11th

⁠https://members.njais.org/integratedEvents/home/2026-INNOVATION-COLLABORATION-CONFERENCE⁠

RIACTE - August 14th - Sponsored in part by the National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing

⁠https://www.nextgenmfg.org/event-details/rhode-island-acte-summer-conference⁠

Say hi to Liz on the Road

Bridges Conference 2026 by Starbridge | New York, July 21-22

⁠https://share.google/0Ky8DA4yQbYLQcmWQ⁠

Global Teaching Dialogue | Fulbright Teacher Exchanges

⁠https://share.google/F2CwJdKGIVoe7RIHg⁠

Announcements

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

Amazon - ⁠https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77⁠

Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - ⁠https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a⁠

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠⁠

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠⁠⁠

Address Screen Time concerns -⁠ ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠⁠

Sponsors

The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing - ⁠https://www.nextgenmfg.org⁠

Links

Phantom Squatting: Phishing via AI-Hallucinated Domains

⁠https://tinyurl.com/m42mtxvv⁠

Drive Projects Replaced My NotebookLM

⁠https://tinyurl.com/yvv6tud2⁠

KORA: Benchmarking AI Child Safety

⁠https://tinyurl.com/bp9nh8ph⁠

AI Companions in Schools

⁠https://tinyurl.com/4j74d6rb⁠

NYC Schools: Pause Ed-Tech Buys

⁠https://tinyurl.com/b29j3dnx⁠

Lenovo's Locked-Down AI Student Phone

⁠https://tinyurl.com/yeyxr4ns⁠

Illinois Takes On AI Deepfakes in Schools

⁠https://tinyurl.com/5h8rjmvv⁠

AI-cademy 2026

⁠https://tinyurl.com/27dephj6⁠

US Students Outsource Writing to AI More Than International Peers

⁠https://tinyurl.com/r26wejvn⁠

CICS Adds AI Concentrations

⁠https://tinyurl.com/yuhkp6sr⁠

Syracuse Launches AI Academic Portfolio

⁠https://tinyurl.com/3eff8u33⁠

Time for Class 2026: The AI Tipping Point

⁠https://tinyurl.com/2pnpa4b9⁠

A Malaria Intelligence System

⁠https://tinyurl.com/mr3dy2dv⁠

Key Takeaways:

Major corporations are throttling employee use of AI to curb massive, unpredictable spending.

The financial strain is driven by developers charging based on computational consumption, or tokens, rather than flat-rate fees.

Several prominent tech giants are resorting to complete service terminations and ending legacy access tiers to manage the budget burn rate.

Matt’s Two Cents: Unlike the corporate world, which has experienced a volatile pendulum swing from encouraging employees to "token max" to abruptly cutting off access, the education sector has taken a more measured and strategic approach. School leaders should find reassurance in knowing that because K-12 and higher education operate under different incentives, they have avoided these chaotic cycles, highlighting the value of deliberate, thoughtful integration over reactionary corporate trends.

Article:

Companies Are Throttling Employees’ AI Use Because It’s Too Expensive

https://bit.ly/3STbCct

Key Takeaways:

Meta contractors created hundreds of unauthorized accounts posing as minors to test rival chatbots against severe topics like self-harm and illegal substances.

The testing strategy involved intentionally forcing systems to bypass their established safety barriers and standards.

Industry experts and the targeted companies noted that this behavior likely violated user agreements and raised questions about whether the project constituted anti-competitive practices.

Matt’s Two Cents: While safety testing is essential for AI development, this specific strategy is deeply concerning and highlights a lack of accountability in the industry. Schools and districts must recognize that relying on company self-policing is insufficient, as the current landscape of AI safety remains inconsistent. We need robust federal standards that provide real oversight and clear expectations to ensure these systems protect students, rather than leaving safety testing to aggressive, unauthorized benchmarking projects.

Article:

Meta Contractors Posed as Teens to Prompt Rival Chatbots About Suicide, Sex, and Drugs

https://tinyurl.com/ycy6mphn

The Rundown

Google added short-form vertical AI video to NotebookLM, and Gemini launched study notebooks, which generate a diagnostic quiz from uploaded materials and build adaptive lessons around the results.

As AI automates routine tasks, an op-ed in The 74 argues employers increasingly value durable skills like collaboration and real-time problem solving, and that theater, debate, sports, and student government are where students actually build them.

Lawmakers in 27 states have introduced bills this session covering classroom AI guidelines, guardrails, and AI literacy standards.

The rapid expansion of AI data centers is placing massive strain on energy grids, with some districts forced to dim school lights to manage skyrocketing utility costs during summer heat waves.

The episode examines the environmental costs of AI, noting that many data centers must rely on backup gas turbines during peak grid demand, which contributes to local air quality issues.

The Beneath the Surface

The hosts compare two contrasting perspectives on the future of education. They analyze a Reddit-based study revealing an adversarial ecosystem of mutual distrust regarding academic integrity and student anxiety, and contrast this with the inspirational student-led innovation Liz witnessed firsthand at the ISTE conference in Orlando.

The Bright Byte

The episode concludes by highlighting the Elephant Alert AI early detection system, which uses artificial intelligence to help local villages and forest departments prevent fatal human-wildlife encounters in India.

Say hi to Matt on the road: 

NAESP - July 14th

https://www.naesp.org/events/

AESA - July 15th

https://www.aesa.us/summer-leadership-conference/

New Jersey Association of Independent Schools - August 11th

https://members.njais.org/integratedEvents/home/2026-INNOVATION-COLLABORATION-CONFERENCE

RIACTE - August 14th

https://www.nextgenmfg.org/event-details/rhode-island-acte-summer-conference

Say hi to Liz on the Road:

Bridges Conference 2026 by Starbridge - July 21-22

https://share.google/0Ky8DA4yQbYLQcmWQ

Global Teaching Dialogue | Fulbright Teacher Exchanges

https://share.google/F2CwJdKGIVoe7RIHg 

Announcements

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77

Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠ 

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠⁠

Address Screen Time concerns - ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠ 

Sponsors

The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing: Your Gateway to Next Generation Advanced Manufacturing - https://www.nextgenmfg.org

Links

AI-generated knockoffs of Joanna Stern's book keep appearing on Apple Books

https://tinyurl.com/45ehzuy3

Google NotebookLM expands AI video features with 60-second shorts

https://tinyurl.com/3bjtbtke

In the Age of AI, Everyone Should Be Hiring Theater Kids

https://tinyurl.com/yc4uht2w

Legislative Tracker: 2026 State AI in Education Bills

https://tinyurl.com/3xx4d89j

The AI boom is colliding with a new threat: Severe weather

https://tinyurl.com/59jdbas7

They Welcomed 37 Data Centers to Town. Now Their Schools Have to Dim the Lights to Cut Energy Costs

https://tinyurl.com/2u4z8xtz

Energy Dept. Orders Data Centers to Tap Backup Power

https://tinyurl.com/5xm8wkte

ChatGPT vs Teachers vs Students: Large-Scale Analysis of Generative AI Discourse

https://tinyurl.com/5ez949cu

Elephant alert! AI warning systems aim to avoid deadly clashes

https://tinyurl.com/3n3xe7x3

Key Takeaways:

LGBTQ+ youth are significantly more likely to be conscious abstainers, with 34% avoiding AI due to ethical and environmental concerns compared to just 13.5% of their non-LGBTQ+ peers.

When queer youth do use AI, they are more likely to hide their usage from others, a behavior that correlates with higher reported levels of anxiety and isolation.

AI tools often serve as a secondary support system for processing difficult circumstances, acting as a temporary substitute when human networks or healthcare resources feel unsafe or unavailable.

Liz’s Two Cents: The reliance of queer youth on AI for guidance and support is not a testament to the strength of the technology, but rather an exposure of systemic weaknesses in our traditional human networks. For school districts, this highlights a critical need to create safer, more accessible real-world environments and healthcare resources so students do not have to turn to biased automated systems as a fallback for human connection.

Article:

“It’s there when people aren’t” What LGBTQ+ young people are finding in AI, and where they draw the line

https://bit.ly/4wlL3e6

Key Takeaways:

A professor gave all students full credit to avoid becoming a punitive detective focused on surveillance rather than teaching.

Outsourcing academic writing to AI deprives students of essential long-term communication, reasoning, and advocacy skills.

The unearned perfect scores were intended as a severe warning about future professional and personal consequences rather than a reward.

Liz’s Two Cents: When grading becomes an adversarial game of AI detection, the core purpose of teaching degrades. If education is treated as a purely transactional exercise where students use shortcuts, educators cannot be expected to care more about the learning process than the students themselves. District leaders must confront how AI integration threatens to shift the focus from genuine feedback to counterproductive policing.

Article:

Professor gives his class perfect scores after realizing most were cheating on their final papers

https://bit.ly/4giwL9E

The Rundown

The state passed a comprehensive piece of artificial intelligence legislation establishing a statewide AI academy and a higher education alliance, while requiring every public school district to integrate computer science and AI into its curriculum.

A major sweep of ecosystem updates from Orlando includes new Gemini features like study notebooks and expanded exam prep, alongside fresh Chromebook tool locks and massive google.org funding investments for non-profits like AIEDU.

Spurred by a listener tip and an analytical piece in Wired Magazine, the hosts discuss a growing European movement to establish localized tech platforms and break free from a reliance on American big tech infrastructure.

The Beneath the Surface

High school English teacher and Connecticut Teacher of the Year semifinalist Kate Avcollie joins the show to discuss her classroom strategies for shifting student focus away from simple compliance and toward authentic cognition. She details how she utilizes custom chatbot "Gems" as structured interventions to pressure test student ideas, requiring them to unpack and annotate their logic. This process ultimately makes student thinking entirely visible and elevates classroom rigor during live evaluations like Socratic seminars and shark tank presentations.

The Bright Byte

The episode closes with a positive look at Intercept, a new 500 million dollar philanthropic initiative aiming to eliminate common respiratory infections like colds and the flu. The project relies heavily on advanced AI protein design tools like AlphaFold to engineer specialized molecules and create broad spectrum treatments without harmful side effects.

Announcements

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77

Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠ 

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠⁠

Address Screen Time concerns - ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠ 

Links

The Visible Thinker

thevisiblethinker.com

Generative artificial intelligence creates burgers

https://tinyurl.com/mw4cjy2w

Connecticut AI law could reshape how students learn from kindergarten to college

https://tinyurl.com/5n6nekdp

Google for Education Launch Guide: ISTE Orlando 2026

https://tinyurl.com/37uu4nvk

Google.org is funding three long-term partners on education and AI

https://tinyurl.com/4txc8cax

Patricia Rootsaert

https://tinyurl.com/yc62h3pc

CIV AI

www.civai.eu

Europe Is Fed Up and Wants Its Own AI

https://tinyurl.com/3n8kk24h

Intercept: Ending Respiratory Infections

https://tinyurl.com/mrxxfbk5

The Rundown

Overture Games, an after-school program in Chicago and Boston, teaches elementary students foundational AI concepts with paper and pencil instead of screens.

The National Council of Teachers of English released a first-of-its-kind framework guiding ELA educators on critical thinking and ethical AI integration.

A group of UK teenagers trained a private AI model on two decades of past exam papers to predict up to 90% of their national exam questions.

Norway introduced a near-total ban on generative AI for elementary students while allowing cautious, supervised use for secondary learners.

A grant-funded partnership between The College of New Jersey and Mercer County Technical Schools trains high school students in AI and robotics for the workforce.

A German court ruled that Google is legally liable for misinformation appearing in its automated AI search summaries, rejecting traditional free speech protections for the technology.

48 state attorneys general are examining OpenAI regarding model sycophancy and related platform problems for consumers and citizens in the US. 

Anthropic announced a 150 million dollar national fellowship program to place 1,000 early career professionals inside American non profit organizations to expand AI infrastructure.

The Beneath the Surface

Matt talks with MasterClass founder and CEO David Rogier about generative AI and education: how language models are reshaping business, challenging the traditional MBA, and creating new opportunities and risks for organizations.

The Bright Byte

The episode closes with Dr. Francesca Dominici's Harvard National Institute of Health lecture on her lab's foundation model, which merges health records, census data, and US Medicare data to forecast extreme-weather adaptation while reckoning with data-center energy use.

Announcements

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77

Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠ 

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠⁠

Address Screen Time concerns - ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠

Sponsors

The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing: Your Gateway to Next Generation Advanced Manufacturing - https://www.nextgenmfg.org

Links

MasterClass Executive

https://mstr.cl/ExecutiveChatEDU

In the Weights

https://tinyurl.com/4xdktpdh

After-school program teaching kids to use ai without screens

https://tinyurl.com/ya3r7htr

Artificial Intelligence English Language Arts Framework for ELA Teachers in Grades 6-12

https://tinyurl.com/4tsfhsca

How a group of teens might have just used AI to accurately predict this year’s exam questions

https://tinyurl.com/2v5hn2dc

Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school

https://tinyurl.com/ynxer75e

TCNJ and Mercer County Technical Schools launch AI and robotics dual enrollment pathway to build New Jersey’s future workforce

https://tinyurl.com/5n8bw5ck

A Court Has Ruled That Google Is Liable for False Statements Generated by AI Overviews

https://tinyurl.com/5akf55xy

OpenAI Investigated by Coalition of State Attorneys General

https://tinyurl.com/bp9c8uv7

Reducing Burden, Increasing Impact

https://tinyurl.com/2sb4yprv

Introducing Claude Corps

https://tinyurl.com/2syyz8rd

AI: Solution or Obstacle for Healthy Adaptation to Extreme Weather Events?

https://tinyurl.com/573f553m

Key Takeaways:

Frequent AI use correlates with increased feelings of social isolation among teenagers, suggesting digital platforms may be replacing traditional face-to-face coping mechanisms.

Youth are increasingly bypassing peers and adults, relying on automated systems for personal advice, health queries, and long-term life guidance.

A significant literacy gap exists, as only about one third of students realize AI cannot distinguish between fact and fiction, leading to unearned trust in chatbot accuracy.

Matt’s Two Cents: While schools have heavily focused on creating policies around AI cheating, there is a glaring oversight regarding AI literacy and general digital fluency. District leaders need to recognize that students are turning to AI as life coaches and health advisors without understanding how these systems work. Because nearly half of students have never discussed AI with their families, districts must expand their instructional focus beyond academic integrity to help students critically evaluate AI outputs and safely navigate these tools outside of school.

Article:

A Comprehensive Report on Teens, Tweens, and AI

https://tinyurl.com/f8s35yyz

Key Takeaways:

An overwhelming 85 percent of kids who utilize AI use it for homework, with 30 percent of high school students relying on it on a daily basis.

Students facing academic difficulty, particularly regarding focus and persistence, report a significantly higher frequency of turning to AI for help.

Schools are prioritizing plagiarism prevention and policy disclosures over deeper digital literacy, leaving half of students without training on how to evaluate information accuracy.

Matt’s Two Cents: The speed of AI adoption is drastically outpacing institutional instruction, leaving a dangerous gap in student fluency. While districts are quick to lay down restrictive guardrails and policy guidelines, they are failing to have meaningful adult conversations with students about navigating these tools safely. School leaders need to move beyond simple acceptable use boundaries and actively teach students how to question and verify automated output, transforming AI from a blind shortcut into an intentional learning coach.

Article:

A Comprehensive Report on Teens, Tweens, and AI

https://tinyurl.com/f8s35yyz

The Rundown

Matt and Liz celebrate the regional winners at the White House, including educator Anne Win and her AP Biology students' AI work.

A free new resource using real-world AI scenarios and the SEE framework to help families and educators navigate AI in education.

Google partners with ISTE and ASCD to launch free, self-paced micro-credentials for teachers, including intro courses on Gemini, NotebookLM, and vibe coding.

Meta launches a $115M academy to train local workers in data center construction, alongside a similar $50M Google program.

OpenAI selects 26 university innovators for its inaugural cohort, giving them model access and $10,000 grants to build solutions from disaster detection to audio learning games.

The hosts look at Google's experimental "Dream Beans" photo feed, "momfluencers" pitching ChatGPT as a co-parent, and Hasbro's AI Mr. Potato Head.

Google's CEO delivers a Stanford commencement address avoiding AI entirely, following recent graduation walkouts and protests.

A recent Wired investigation finds that Elon Musk's Grok still generates non-consensual explicit deepfakes of prominent women.

Anthropic complies with US government regulations by blocking access to its Mythos and Fable models for non-Americans and foreign employees within the country.

While NAEP showed slight literacy gains for nine-year-olds, an Axios report highlights millions of low-literacy adult workers using AI to mask reading and writing gaps.

The Beneath the Surface

Matt and Liz dig into the Genesee Valley BOCES "Teaching About AI" report, which lays out eight provocations and argues that librarians are the most vital leaders for district-wide AI integration.

The Bright Byte

Mayo Clinic researchers have validated an AI model that scans routine CT scans to flag pancreatic cancer up to three years before diagnosis, roughly doubling specialists' early-detection rate.

Announcements

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77

Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠ 

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠⁠

Address Screen Time concerns - ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠ 

Links

Presidential AI Challenge Champions

https://tinyurl.com/yt55wrju

SEE GenAI Literacy Snapshot

https://tinyurl.com/yt2fxr3r

Google AI Educator Series on Teaching with AI

https://tinyurl.com/2pzdfse2

Meta launches $115 million data center job guarantee

https://tinyurl.com/3wrv43me

Growing the next generation of American workers

https://tinyurl.com/ytbp7jn5

OpenAI names first ChatGPT Futures class to back student AI projects

https://tinyurl.com/mpb6amc4

Momfluencers Are Pitching AI as a Better ‘Coparent’ Than Men

https://tinyurl.com/36dzrmyc

Hasbro to license AI versions of Mr. Potato Head

https://tinyurl.com/2x27mz3m

Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act

https://tinyurl.com/mupadpn9

Google CEO skips AI in Stanford commencement address

https://tinyurl.com/4746h6re

Grok Is Still Hosting Sexualized Deepfakes

https://tinyurl.com/mttanc48

Students show gains in reading and math

https://tinyurl.com/yrwc4vj5

AI is masking America's "post-literate" workforce

https://tinyurl.com/jt2ke2ej

Teaching About AI: A Report for the K-12 Field

https://tinyurl.com/zfkthmzu

Mayo Clinic AI detects cancer 3 years before diagnosis

https://tinyurl.com/5dpbk4bt

Key Takeaways:

Google is transforming its traditional link-based search engine into a conversational engine that prioritizes AI-generated overviews, causing user dissatisfaction.

DuckDuckGo has seen a major surge in traffic and mobile app downloads, growing up to 18 percent week-over-week as users seek out search options without forced AI integration.

While DuckDuckGo does offer its own private AI tools, its core appeal lies in giving users strict privacy protections and the ultimate choice in whether or not they interact with the technology.

Liz’s Two Cents: Users are pushing back against forced AI integration, showing that they value choice and control over automatic automation. For school district leaders, this serves as a critical reminder that when introducing new technologies, providing clear options to opt-out or choose traditional methods can significantly reduce user friction and building trust.

Article:

DuckDuckGo installs are up 30% as users reject being ‘force-fed’ Google’s AI Search

https://bit.ly/4xdzuqF

Key Takeaways:

Invalid Experimentation: The AI generated the code, training data, and test data, creating a closed simulation that made the study scientifically invalid, which the student failed to notice.

Stalled Skill Development: Over-reliance on large language models prevents students from learning fundamental, discipline-specific skills, such as navigating and reading raw computer code.

The Illusion of Flawlessness: AI is optimized for user satisfaction and compliance, which can easily mislead inexperienced users into believing fundamentally flawed work is perfect.

Liz’s Two Cents: Generative AI removes the productive friction and tension necessary for true learning, creating a dangerous feedback loop where students mistake easy completion for actual understanding. School leaders must design learning experiences that require students to engage with basic fundamentals, ensuring automated tools do not bypass the cognitive struggle required to build genuine skills.

Article:

The Anatomy of a Learning Stall

https://bit.ly/4dY7fEX

The Rundown

ChatGPT's new memory system uses "dreaming" to auto-curate user preferences over years.

Google's new AI feature for Enterprise and Education plans finds scattered files and suggests folders for them.

In a Stanford blind study, law professors preferred AI answers to student legal questions over peer-written ones 75% of the time.

In a poll of 545 K-12 educators, most said AI will outweigh the internet's educational impact; about half report no district guidance.

A new six-item tool in the ECNU Review of Education measures how much students outsource thinking to generative AI.

Bernie Sanders proposed a one-time 50% stock tax on major AI companies to fund dividends for Americans.

Jack Clark and The Anthropic Institute warned frontier models are nearing recursive self-improvement, urging international verification.

Penn GSE launched a course on how K-12 students can design, critique, and build their own machine learning systems.

Maryland's new law requires public schools to appoint AI coordinators and add AI literacy standards by June 2027.

IBM's global software competition gives university students hands-on access to professional tech tools via its AI partner.

Beneath the Surface

Matt and Liz analyze Anthropic's "Claude for Legal" expansion (12 plug-ins, 20 MCP connectors), then turn to education: how similar integrations could streamline IEP compliance, audit curriculum drift in LMSs, and run automated student risk signals.

The Bright Byte

Using a new Health and AI Policy Index on 240 healthcare AI policies, Mount Sinai investigators see an opening for health systems and academic medical centers to lead in standardizing clinical AI deployment.

Announcements

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77

Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠ 

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠⁠

Address Screen Time concerns - ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠

Sponsors

The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing: Your Gateway to Next Generation Advanced Manufacturing - https://www.nextgenmfg.org

Links

AI Policy Pressure Test

https://tinyurl.com/5xam65xs

AI Policy Scenarios Test

https://tinyurl.com/463p8err

Hackers Asked Meta AI for Instagram Access. It Worked.

https://tinyurl.com/4456m8yt

Better memory for ChatGPT

https://tinyurl.com/uz7abp49

This New Google Drive Feature Organizes Your Files for You

https://tinyurl.com/ewvdfzhv

AI Outperforms Law Professors in Stanford Law Study https://tinyurl.com/58s8vt4z

Teachers Say AI's Educational Impact Will Eclipse the Internet

https://tinyurl.com/4rh4vzye

A New Scale for Measuring AI-Driven Metacognitive Offloading

https://tinyurl.com/5f9u2428

Bernie Sanders: A.I. Is a Public Resource. You Should Own Half of It.

https://tinyurl.com/nujnbh4v

Anthropic Urges Global AI Pause Over 'Self-Improvement' Risk

https://tinyurl.com/mry54xvz

AI education for kids

https://tinyurl.com/3fzsddjt

Maryland's School A.I. Guidance Law Is Now in Effect

https://tinyurl.com/yc4xzxk6

IBM Launches Global AI Builders Challenge for Students

https://tinyurl.com/2ss23mna

Anthropic Unveils 'Claude for Legal'

https://tinyurl.com/rcf7tak4

A First-of-Its-Kind Index for Health Care AI Policy

https://tinyurl.com/49uzu77m

Key Takeaways:

Individuals increasingly rely on AI for core human thinking, risking mental laziness and the erosion of independent thought when algorithms handle tasks from the very start.

Therapeutic and companion interactions have become the single highest-ranked use case, with users forming deep emotional bonds and anthropomorphizing chatbots to navigate personal hardships.

Significant "shadow usage" is occurring in the workplace, where employees secretly build AI workflows to bypass institutional hurdles and complete tasks faster without leadership's knowledge.

Matt’s Two Cents: School leaders need to look closely at how automation impacts cognitive engagement, shifting the focus from simply offloading clerical tasks to using AI intentionally as a colleague or coach that grows skills. Furthermore, the rise of emotional reliance on chatbots and undetected "shadow usage" highlights a critical gap between institutional governance and real-world behavior, signaling that districts must address the human and hidden dimensions of tech adoption.

Article:

How People Are Really Using AI in 2026

https://bit.ly/4ftzkoN

Key Takeaways:

Estonia's school-sanctioned chatbot uses a restrictive Socratic framework, but only about a third of students use it regularly.

Students are actively developing workarounds, using repetitive prompting or switching to unfiltered commercial AI tools to avoid the frustrating conversational guardrails of the school system.

A vocal minority of students are staging a boycott of the technology due to environmental concerns over data centers and geopolitical skepticism regarding the dominance of American tech firms.

Matt’s Two Cents: This story is less about the technology itself and more about enterprise organizational development and how to deploy tech at scale. For top-down, nationwide educational technology implementations to succeed, schools must move away from rigid, forced rollouts and instead allow administrators, teachers, and students to collaborate on how to best leverage the tool.

Article:

How to Fight AI Brain Rot at School? For One Country, It’s With Free ChatGPT

https://bit.ly/4fsflqv

The Rundown

Google has introduced automatic Google Drive syncing for NotebookLM, eliminating the need to manually update uploaded Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

Upgrading to Gemini 1.5 Pro transformed NotebookLM's image upload capabilities into full multimodal visual understanding, opening up new use cases for students and teachers using screenshots and real world photos.

A roundup of recent AI failures: a $100 million Pizza Hut franchisee lawsuit against Dragon Tail AI, Starbucks scrapping a faulty AI inventory tool, a study finding 60%+ of AI search responses inaccurate, and fake journals publishing AI papers.

A Wall Street Journal report highlights how persistent memory features in major chatbots can backfire by latching onto stale, outdated, or sensitive personal data and skewing future advice.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten introduced a 10 plan calling for a complete ban on screens for preschool through second grade and a prohibition on student facing AI in all elementary schools.

The School Superintendents Association is pairing 50 superintendents with 100 students to collaborate with MIT experts and draft a student led national AI policy for public schools.

Students from New Haven's Engineering and Science University Magnet School developed a functioning visual prosthesis utilizing advanced vision language models for real time hazard detection for the visually impaired.

The Beneath the Surface

Matt and Liz explore Urban Assembly's Project CAFE, which delivers near-real-time coaching to every educator. CEO David Adams joins to discuss using AI-driven frameworks to improve teacher development, student engagement, and AI integration in K-12 classrooms.

https://www.urbanassembly.org/

https://www.urbanassembly.org/what-we-do/project-cafe

The Bright Byte

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's Biohub is an open-source world model of protein biology that predicts complex protein shapes in seconds and designs disease-targeting proteins in days. Being fully open source, it lets researchers worldwide download the data and accelerate breakthroughs on their own.

Announcements

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77

Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠ 

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠⁠

Address Screen Time concerns - ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠ 

Links

Meet the Sad Wives of AI

https://tinyurl.com/mr4xf8ze

Automatic Drive syncing in NotebookLM

https://tinyurl.com/38kfana4

Unlocking NotebookLM's best feature

https://tinyurl.com/3ppt3ccz

Pizza Hut franchisee says AI caused $100M in damages

https://tinyurl.com/5ypp52ua

Exclusive: Starbucks scraps AI inventory tool across North America

https://tinyurl.com/5a68wphd

AI Just Isn’t Right

https://tinyurl.com/33ve2p6u

Fake journals publish AI papers under professors' names

https://tinyurl.com/3tbf5rpb

Your Chatbot's Long Memory Isn't Always a Good Thing

https://tinyurl.com/4dzpb77n

AFT president urges screen and AI bans for young students

https://tinyurl.com/tu56kxc9

Let Digital-Native Students Lead the AI Revolution in Education

https://tinyurl.com/y589exk8

New Haven Magnet School Is Only High School Team at Yale Innovation Summit

https://tinyurl.com/mr352pte

A World Model of Protein Biology

https://tinyurl.com/5ca6upk2

Key Takeaways:

A significant disconnect exists between high student grades and actual academic proficiency, creating a deceptive reality for parents and students.

Traditional school systems are largely failing to move struggling students toward academic recovery due to the overwhelming demands placed on teachers.

AI tools can analyze student work in real time to identify specific learning misconceptions, serving as a scalable playbook for targeted teacher interventions.

Liz’s Two Cents: School leaders must confront the uncomfortable reality that grade inflation is masking critical student deficiencies. To prevent students from falling permanently behind, districts should strategically leverage AI to surface real-time diagnostic insights, allowing teachers to maximize their limited intervention time by targeting exact learning gaps rather than relearning mastered content.

Article:

America’s Schools Are Terrible at Catching Kids Up. How AI Can Help

https://bit.ly/4u8cuGQ

Key Takeaways:

AI labs are employing philosophers to work alongside computer scientists to sculpt the moral frameworks and societal impacts of new technologies.

These professionals focus on technical value alignment and drafting "constitutions" to guide model interactions in sensitive scenarios, such as managing users in distress.

Academic critics worry these corporate roles may limit critical questioning and could be used for "ethics washing" to signal public safety while prioritizing shareholders.

Liz’s Two Cents: The influx of philosophers into AI development raises critical questions about whose ethical frameworks are being prioritized and whether these roles are genuinely impactful or merely a public relations strategy. For school districts, this underscores the importance of teaching students to critically evaluate the underlying values and potential biases embedded within the AI tools they use daily.

Article:

To Land a Job in AI, Try Reading Kant

https://bit.ly/4aogUCm

The Rundown

John R. Soash's three configurations for restricting student access to Gemini AI and Google Lens.

Dan Fitzpatrick on Google's pivot from passive chatbots to proactive AI agents.

Regional literary winners face scrutiny after their entries were flagged as AI-generated.

The federal law requiring platforms to remove nonconsensual student deepfakes within 48 hours, effective May 2026.

OpenAI and Google DeepMind use AI reasoning models to autonomously solve longstanding math problems.

Dr. Ethan Mollick compares the water and energy costs of computing breakthroughs to everyday resources like almonds and lawns.

Academics debate whether AI traffic light systems and the AI Assessment Scale are an enforcement illusion or a genuinely useful tool.

A 2026 pilot program delivers cloud workstations and premium tech subscriptions to public libraries in Utah and New Jersey.

Beneath the Surface

Matt and Liz examine how grade inflation and AI cheating fears are driving policy shifts at elite universities: device bans at Yale, a 20% A-grade cap at Harvard, an AI ban at UC Berkeley Law, and the end of Princeton's 133-year-old honor code. As a counterpoint, they feature CU Boulder physicists advocating collaborative, department-level experimentation that treats students as partners rather than imposing top-down bans.

The Bright Byte

Finland's Kemira and UK-based Cusp AI used generative AI to design over 5,000 new material structures to strip PFAS 'forever chemicals' from municipal drinking water.

Announcements

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77

Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠ 

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠⁠

Address Screen Time concerns - ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠ 

Sponsors

Nectir. Welcome to the Classroom of the Future. https://www.nectir.io/

Links

Prankster Passes Off Real Monet Painting as AI-Generated, Chaos Ensues

https://tinyurl.com/mrab9ne3

Blocking Google’s “AI Mode” (IT admin guide)

https://tinyurl.com/4px27bm9

Google I/O 2026's Impact on Education

https://tinyurl.com/2vs3zfzs

Literary Prizewinners Face AI Allegations

https://tinyurl.com/sh3jry9y

What's Next for the First AI Deepfakes Law

https://tinyurl.com/9v3rzutk

AI Solves an 80-Year-Old 'Erdős Problem

https://tinyurl.com/ykks2mtj

AI-Driven Formal Proof Search in Mathematics

https://tinyurl.com/3wuer99w

Discursive vs. Structural Responses to AI in Education

https://tinyurl.com/4d6n82yy

Labels, Scales, and What the AIAS Actually Claims to Do

https://tinyurl.com/su4zr73u

Building Public AI with Libraries

https://tinyurl.com/4den8s4k

Yale to Consider Changes to Mission, Admissions, Aid, and Grading

https://tinyurl.com/46779xp5

Yale Faculty Say 'Bravo' to Harvard's Grade Cap

https://tinyurl.com/mx6e594c

UC Berkeley Law's AI Ban: Why Texas Students Should Pay Attention

https://tinyurl.com/32xt4umr

Princeton Changes Its 133-Year-Old Honor Code Over AI Cheating Fears

https://tinyurl.com/28yjxfjn

CU Boulder: Higher Ed AI Change Models Already Out of Date

https://tinyurl.com/37me2ssj

Key Takeaways:

Elon Musk's xAI is increasing portable gas-fired power at its Mississippi campus despite facing legal challenges regarding air quality.

Internal communications reveal a massive rapid deployment of 19 new natural gas turbines over a recent 60-day period.

Civil rights and environmental advocacy groups, including the NAACP, have filed lawsuits alleging Clean Air Act violations.

Matt’s Two Cents: School leaders trying to build digital fluency and AI literacy among students must now navigate a rapid drop in public opinion surrounding these tools. Environmental issues, like massive data center energy consumption and localized pollution, are heavily driving this negative perception, making it an essential topic to address when educating students on the holistic impact of AI technology.

Article:

xAI Adds 19 New Gas Turbines Despite Ongoing Lawsuit

https://bit.ly/4wSK5qZ

Key Takeaways:

College commencement ceremonies are seeing unexpected disruptions, signaling a growing cultural friction and unease regarding technology's integration into the professional world.

Data shows distinct generational anxiety, with 42% of Gen Z expressing concerns that AI will harm their job opportunities and wages, a higher percentage than Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers.

Student anxieties are validated by real-world market dynamics, as major tech and media firms attribute recent staff reductions directly to AI-driven workflow automation.

Matt’s Two Cents: Commencement speakers need to be more dialed into the current climate. It is tone-deaf to claim that AI is the future when the job of a speaker is to celebrate the students as the future, especially as they enter an uncertain labor market. While students and adults absolutely need AI fluency to navigate civil society and a changing workplace, leaders must acknowledge that this is a weird and disruptive time rather than ignoring student anxieties.

Article:

The new college graduation ritual: booing AI

https://bit.ly/4uPCBnn

The Rundown

Andin Labs conducted a six-month experiment letting four distinct AI models run their own radio stations on a $20 budget, revealing bizarre behavioral drifts ranging from corporate jargon loops to bot union rebellions.

Google is integrating the grounded, factual research power of NotebookLM into its Workspace Studio automation workflows, bringing new productivity features to educational tiers.

Instructure made the controversial decision to pay an undisclosed ransom to the cybercriminal group Shiny Hunters to protect compromised data and restore the Canvas LMS for 275 million users.

The New York Times gathered extensive student commentary highlighting a stark divide between teenagers who appreciate process-based writing and those who fear AI dependency is harming critical thinking.

Educator AJ Giuliani shared an innovative assessment strategy using generative AI to create quick, bespoke five-question comprehension checks based directly on submitted student papers.

Ohio University celebrated a pioneering milestone, graduating its very first inaugural class of three students from its specialized Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence program.

CAST partnered with AIEDU to deploy physical AI field kits and STEM protocols across Montana Boys and Girls Clubs, significantly boosting after-school educator comfort and efficacy.

The Beneath the Surface

Liz sits down with Amit Sevak, the CEO of Educational Testing Service (ETS), to explore the global AI literacy emergency and the urgent need for transparent competency measures. Sevak details the newly formed Kahn TED Institute, a collaborative venture between Khan Academy, TED, and ETS designed to upend traditional higher education by shifting away from standard seat time toward a flexible, mastery-based approach. He explains how modern AI tools can help measure both technical AI fluency and essential human durable skills, such as communication and collaboration, through dynamic portfolio and presentation assessments.

The Bright Byte

The hosts wrap up the show with a look at Physics Intern, an autonomous agentic framework designed for complex theoretical physics research. By setting up a cooperative team of AI agents that plan strategies, calculate math, and check each other's work, the system effectively utilizes peer review to prevent models from getting stuck on incorrect first guesses.

Announcements

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠ 

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠⁠

Address Screen Time concerns - ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠

Links

Anthropic warns against using dystopian sci-fi to train AI models

https://tinyurl.com/5t4v9n7z

We let four AIs run radio stations. Here's what happened.

https://tinyurl.com/3aafc4jc

Use NotebookLM in your Google Workspace Studio flows
https://tinyurl.com/2we7px2f

Instructure Pays Ransom to Canvas Hackers

https://tinyurl.com/yukhfx7a

How Are Your Teachers Handling Writing in the Age of A.I.?

https://tinyurl.com/yeynhwz2

The Easiest Way to Stop AI Plagiarizing

https://tinyurl.com/mr3krt5x

OHIO's first AI degree graduates shape the future of the field

https://tinyurl.com/yc3esamj

AI in The Big Sky

https://tinyurl.com/5butbp7c

Physics-intern: an autonomous agentic framework for physics research

https://tinyurl.com/mudrmec5

Key Takeaways:

AI reasoning models now demonstrate superior accuracy using messy, real-world data, successfully navigating early triage and admission stages with limited information.

Significant technical progress allows the latest AI models to handle diagnostic uncertainty and match or exceed established clinical benchmarks for ambiguous symptoms.

Experts emphasize that superior text-based diagnostic performance does not account for full clinical workflows, which require physical images, sounds, and non-verbal cues.

Liz’s Two Cents: While AI is showing massive improvements in handling complex, messy data and solving diagnostic puzzles, it cannot replicate the human elements of workflow management and interpersonal understanding. For school district leaders, this serves as a hopeful signal that AI's role is to enhance and support professional expertise rather than replace the essential human touch.

Article:

In real-world test, an AI model did better than doctors at diagnosing patients

https://bit.ly/43jjntT

Key Takeaways:

Implementing lockable phone pouches causes immediate friction, including temporary spikes in disciplinary actions and drops in student happiness, though these metrics return to baseline after one year.

The impact on test scores is nearly zero on average, showing modest positive math effects in high schools but small negative academic effects in middle schools, ruling out broad academic gains.

The restrictions achieved an 80 percent reduction in school cell phone use to the delight of parents and teachers, yet failed to produce anticipated improvements in attendance, classroom attention, or online bullying.

Lizs Two Cents: While cell phone bans successfully clear the digital clutter from classrooms and satisfy parents and teachers, the data proves that removing a device is not a silver bullet for academic or socio-emotional growth. School leaders must recognize that device management is only one piece of the educational puzzle: true engagement and cultural improvement require deeper, more comprehensive strategies beyond simply locking up phones.

Article:

The Effects of School Phone Bans: National Evidence from Lockable Pouches

https://bit.ly/4ujOFg9

The Rundown

Matt and Liz engage in a spirited discussion about the Brisk Chrome extension and its integration with Gemini, questioning if "wrapper" tools add true value for educators.

An examination of how Arizona State University repurposed faculty lectures into "AI slop" snippets without professor consent, leading to a significant backlash.

A look at the $17 million deal with OpenAI that is facing resistance from faculty and students who feel like "test rats" due to a lack of guidance.

A study from Cornell and Carnegie Mellon reveals that while lower-income students use AI more for essays, they face higher rejection rates than wealthier peers.

New research highlights a sixfold increase in fabricated academic citations in research papers, signaling a shift toward superficial AI box-checking in academia.

Mike Dunn, principal at Granby High School, shares a cautionary tale of a "complexity ceiling" where Gemini hallucinated teacher data during a scheduling task.

The Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund announces $1.9 million in grants to youth-led organizations focused on digital safety and AI ethics.

A three-part look at digital bans, featuring Richard Culatta’s warning against banning edtech, Arana Shapiro’s critique of "chocolate-covered broccoli" learning, and a report on surging library checkouts in Dallas.

The Beneath the Surface

The hosts explore Jevon’s Paradox, an economic theory from the 1860s which suggests that as technology makes a resource more efficient, the overall consumption of that resource actually increases. They apply this theory to the "AI Jobpocalypse" predictions and conduct a thought experiment on how increased efficiency in education might lead to higher demands on teachers and students rather than less work.

The Bright Byte

The episode concludes with a fascinating look at how NASA is utilizing AI to identify true planets among hundreds of thousands of simulated astrophysical events, successfully distinguishing them from false positives.

Announcements

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday. Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠ 

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠⁠

Address Screen Time concerns - ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠ 

Sponsors

Nectir. Welcome to the Classroom of the Future. https://www.nectir.io/

Links

OpenAI's Former CTO Testifies Against Sam Altman

https://tinyurl.com/bdcpdb6z

ASU AI Tool Uses Professors' Lectures Without Their Knowledge

https://tinyurl.com/3ejhtepk

Some Cal State Students and Faculty Reject OpenAI Deal

https://tinyurl.com/yc7sjwx6

Low-Income Students More Likely to Use AI for Admissions Essays

https://tinyurl.com/5e5ej5xe

AI-Hallucinated Citations Increasingly Appearing in Research Papers

https://tinyurl.com/yc2auunh

Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund Grants $1.9M to Third Cohort

https://tinyurl.com/3f6ebxvc

States Expanding School Device Bans Beyond Phones

https://tinyurl.com/y4vppwcu

The Real Problem Isn't Screens, It's Disengaged Learning

https://tinyurl.com/2wxzfxuh

School Library Checkouts Rise Amid Phone Bans

https://tinyurl.com/3pdy3dak

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