Learning Curve

Competitive memory athlete Nelson Dellis has won multiple national championships, and he’s used AI to help him train for competitions. But as he turned to chatbots more and more, his thinking began to change. It fits into what Oakland University professor Barbara Oakley, an expert on how humans learn, calls the “Memory Paradox.” They’re among those making the case for requiring students from middle school to college to do more rote memorization — of poems, dates, capitals, and more.

Driverless cars have been *just* about to arrive – for more than a decade now. Yet most teenagers today still take driving lessons. Still, some wonder whether we’re heading to a future where most people won’t need to know those skills. Can thinking the public narrative around robot cars help educators think about the fast-rising trend of generative AI? For this episode, Jeff talked with two experts with books on how to think about teaching and AI — and put them in debate about key differences in their approaches.

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.