Learning Curve

During the ICE surge in Minneapolis, AI is playing a role in this tense and unfolding story, specifically how it is contributing to misinformation. What can educators do to prepare students, and any of us, for this new information landscape where AI is increasingly a factor. Jeff visited the University of Minnesota’s journalism school and talked with a professor who is exploring the role of AI in news, as well as three student journalists covering protests and ICE activity.

Is It Possible to Put Age Limits on AI Tools? Last week the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing about potential legislation banning kids under 13 from using social media. Australia has a new law keeping kids under 16 off the technology. What about new AI tools? Should regulations enforce age limits — and is that even possible given how embedded the tech is becoming?

In the past few months new AI tools known as “Agentic AI” have emerged. These new browsers let users deploy AI assistants that can surf the web on their behalf. While they were designed to do things like book airline tickets or schedule meetings, students can use the tools to have the bot log into learning management systems to take quizzes for them. Anna Mills, a longtime English instructor, has called on AI companies to add a simple guardrail to keep these tools from assisting in academic fraud, just as they refuse to help with hacking or other unethical acts. The situation raises questions about how AI companies are responding to calls by educators to add safeguards to protect learning.

Skilled trades are typically seen as professions that won’t be permeated by AI. But that’s starting to change. Jeff visited auto tech classes at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minn., where the instructors built an AI mentor tool to help students troubleshoot car repairs. But the biggest win for AI for budding mechanics turns out to involve not fixing cars, but helping explain their repairs to customers.

More than 40 percent of high school students have AI friends or know someone who does, according to a recent survey. What does this phenomenon mean for how students and teachers view the AI tools used in education. What are the risks and potential benefits of turning to a bot for companionship? Hear from a researcher who has studied AI friends, and from a college dean who developed an unexpected relationship with a bot.