ChatEDU: AI in Education

In this ChatEDU Check-In: Data Center = Teacher Bonus?, Matt explores how hyperscalers and tech companies are offering financial concessions to local communities to secure approval for new data centers. As computing expansion faces political and public resistance, tech firms are funding local initiatives and infrastructure to build goodwill. These investments range from workforce training programs to direct cash payouts and local school support.

Key Takeaways:
Tech companies face growing opposition over the energy, water, and cost footprints of expanding data centers.

Firms like Amazon are pledging commitments including transparent resource reporting and over $1 billion for free community college, trades training, and energy efficiency upgrades.

Local communities are leveraging their approval power to extract payouts, including teacher bonuses in Louisiana funded by Meta and direct household cash proposals.

Matt’s Two Cents: Since creativity thrives under constraints, limits on data center construction will force tech companies to innovate toward efficiency in chip design, energy, and water usage, while school districts and communities can leverage their positioning to secure strategic investments.

Article:
Amazon launches new data center commitments
https://tinyurl.com/bde22fbx

Sponsored by: Playground IEP AI for Special Education designed to help educators write IEP goals, manage case loads, and track progress. Take advantage of our special offer: Free for individual educators at https://tinyurl.com/4f3ekn9k.

In this ChatEDU Check-In: A STEP, BUT A BABY STEP, Matt explores Google's release of SynthID to the general public to help identify AI-generated media. The tool allows users to verify whether images, video, or audio content have been generated by AI. While it represents a step forward in media verification, limitations remain across different platforms and models.

Key Takeaways:
Google expanded public access to SynthID, enabling anyone to verify whether images, video, or audio clips are AI-generated.
SynthID watermarking is integrated across Google's model suite and tools like Gemini, processing around one million verification requests daily.
Existing watermarking tools are not infallible and often fail to identify synthetic content created by their makers' own models.

Matt’s Two Cents: While knowing whether media is real or synthetic is crucial for K-12 and higher education, current watermarking and detection tools like SynthID are still initial baby steps that may not fully solve content authentication challenges for schools.

Article:
Google’s new SynthID website can identify AI-generated media
https://bit.ly/4sd8VQv

Sponsored by: Playground IEP AI for special education. Take advantage of our special offer: Free Account at app.playgroundiep.com/podcast.

Common Sense Media says ChatGPT for teens and six additional tools are labeled “Unacceptable Risk” and what to do about it. 

First Up
Matt and Liz open on Bezzy, a satirical plush data center from the Adopt a Data Center project. Squeeze its belly and it screams with audio recorded from a real data center in a Virginia backyard.
Adopt This Data Center Plushie and Hear Its Piercing Scream: https://tinyurl.com/5n8wsxyd 

The Rundown
TinkAI
TinkAI Mirror: How Much Do You Push Back When You Chat with AI?: https://tinyurl.com/4a429ehd 
OpenAI Watermarking
OpenAI will start watermarking ChatGPT's text in the EU: https://tinyurl.com/yvf38wje 
Your Next Great Read Might Be Certified 'Organic': https://tinyurl.com/4e2ua27p 
ChatEDU Ep. 131, on Anthropic's watermarking: https://tinyurl.com/3husmshv 
Higher Ed Desk
Cambridge University opposes Turnitin AI training plans: https://tinyurl.com/m7wenszu  
New Research: AI Answers Decide Which Schools Prospects Choose as Consideration Sets Continue to Shrink: https://tinyurl.com/2f36x2xx 
Academics must resist LinkedIn's enshittification: https://tinyurl.com/28tjkahj 
Math to Biohub
Weeks after claiming AI cracked 90-yr-old maths puzzle, OpenAI drops the mother lode on mathematicians: https://tinyurl.com/23fzwx65 
The Economist on the mass production of mathematics: https://tinyurl.com/4pkma84r  
U.S. government, Google join Zuckerberg-backed Biohub in $1.8 billion push for AI biology data: https://tinyurl.com/9sfzay5x 
"Gen Alpha Can't Read"
Trends & Tips: "Gen Alpha Can't Read": https://tinyurl.com/4bu5kz2e 
We're Entering the New Dark Ages, by James Marriott (book): https://tinyurl.com/yrxvmwbu 
We're Entering the New Dark Ages (Interesting Times, YouTube): https://tinyurl.com/3w2t7cuy 
Proactive Adaptations
AI Spurs College Board Redesign of 2 AP Courses: https://tinyurl.com/2ba2yxv9 
GDC 2026 State of the Game Industry Report: https://tinyurl.com/yc8cm8wb 
How I changed teaching after AI managed to do all my homework assignments: https://tinyurl.com/5dpshrhk 
AI in Education Newsletter (Sid's Research Community): https://tinyurl.com/3nep4bth 

Beneath the Surface
Matt and Liz discuss AI movies, forged cartoon signatures, a teen stranded via AI hiking advice, and Claude reporting a cold case. They review Common Sense Media's risk ratings versus Khanmigo, offering four action items for families and schools.
"Not safe for kids": advocacy group urges OpenAI to keep teens off ChatGPT: https://tinyurl.com/mrxv6mm7 
Common Sense Media AI risk assessments: https://tinyurl.com/ym5b9yva 
ChatGPT is adding real cartoonists' signatures to fake New Yorker cartoons: https://tinyurl.com/54zx9vx7 
Teen Left Stranded on a Cliff After Letting AI Plan Hike: https://tinyurl.com/4f27p225 
Investigating unintended model actions in our evaluations and internal use: https://tinyurl.com/432sw647 
Matt and Liz go to the movies with AI and it’s not pretty

Bright Byte
Anthropic reports 68,000 Ghanaian teachers use curriculum-aligned Claude tools via PlayLab and the Ministry of Education. Future deployments include Brazil, Nigeria, Rwanda, and India; outcome data remains unavailable.
Anthropic says Claude lesson-planning tools are reaching 68,000 teachers in Ghana: https://tinyurl.com/3jh9mupu 

Announcements
Register for SCSU’s Emerging Technologies Forum: https://tinyurl.com/ab9ycu78
Register for our Winter Microcredential and upcoming AI events: https://tinyurl.com/43jwkwyp
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: Bridging Education and Industry to Build Tomorrow’s Technical Workforce - https://www.nextgenmfg.org

In this ChatEDU Check-In: Students Walk Out Over AI, Liz explores high school students protesting a perceived double standard in school AI policies. Students at Evergreen High School walked out of class to demand regulations on AI use for both teachers and students. They highlighted that while educators use AI for lesson planning and grading, students are completely prohibited from using it.

Key Takeaways:
Evergreen High School students staged a walkout under the banner "Pencils, not prompts" to demand district-wide AI regulations.

Current Washington State guidelines allow educators to use AI for lesson planning and assessments, but students face strict prohibitions.

The school district established a charter to develop a formal technology plan, but full policy implementation is not scheduled until August 2028, leaving students without a clear framework for years.

Liz’s Two Cents: Student activism highlights a critical gap in school governance, as delayed policy timelines force students to navigate unfair double standards while educators freely adopt AI tools. School leadership must accelerate policy development to ensure equitable, transparent rules for artificial intelligence in the classroom.

Article:
Evergreen High School students demand AI regulation in classrooms from district: 'Pencils, not prompts'
https://tinyurl.com/494yev4j

In this ChatEDU Check-In: Women Left Behind in AI, Liz explores how women face growing disparities in the booming AI industry. The report highlights how structural obstacles and decreased corporate diversity efforts risk worsening economic and leadership gaps for female professionals.

Key Takeaways:
Women account for only 25% of new hires in AI roles compared to 50% in non-AI roles, while holding higher risk for job automation.

Rigid work schedules and limited support systems make career continuity difficult during major life events.

Corporate rollbacks of diversity programs threaten to lock in long-term leadership and income disparities.

Liz’s Two Cents: As AI reshapes the future of work, the risk extends beyond job automation to who gets a seat at the table to build and govern these tools. School leaders must ensure female students are equipped and supported to actively participate in shaping the future of technology.

Article:
The AI industry is booming. Women are getting left behind
https://tinyurl.com/2ftp7w5z