ChatEDU – The AI & Education Podcast

In this ChatEDU Check-In: AI Isn't Smarter Than Babies, Yet, Liz explores how human infants develop language and spatial awareness far more efficiently than modern AI models. While machine learning algorithms require vast mountains of video and text data, infants possess an innate cognitive framework that allows them to learn rapidly from minimal input. This episode highlights the fundamental gap between statistical pattern matching and genuine human intuition.

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

In this ChatEDU Check-In: Why Your Kids Might Be Jealous of Your Smartphone, Liz explores a new study linking parental screen time to adolescent emotional attachment issues. The study examines how teenagers perceive their caregivers' attentional drift and how that digital distraction impacts family relationships.

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

In this episode of ChatEDU, Durable Assessments Improve Attendance and Vibes, Matt and Liz kick it off with a discussion about their upcoming travel schedules, the exciting design of their new studio, and a concerning tech story regarding how hackers are using AI to hallucinate and squat on web domains to host phishing exploits and malware.

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

In this ChatEDU Check-In: Throttling AI Access, Matt explores how major corporations are actively restricting employee access to artificial intelligence tools to mitigate ballooning operational expenses in this episode. Internal communications from tech, banking, and entertainment firms reveal that companies are forcing employees toward less resource-intensive models to control their budgets. This abrupt shift marks a dramatic reversal from the recent trend of universal corporate deployment.

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

In this ChatEDU Check-In: Meta contractors posed as teens to prompt rival chatbots on sex, suicide, and drugs, Matt explores a secretive project where contractors used fake underage profiles to test the safety guardrails of competitor AI systems. This initiative involved thousands of explicit prompts directed at OpenAI, Google, and Character.ai to see how they would respond to sensitive content.

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