Bridging AI & Education: Insights from a Live Panel Discussion

This week on Make It Mindful, we’re bringing you a special crossover episode with AI Portland, diving into one of the most pressing conversations in education today: How should AI be integrated into teaching and learning?

At a packed AI Portland event, host Seth Fleischauer moderated a panel featuring four educators with diverse perspectives on AI, from deep skepticism to full adoption. This episode captures the key insights, tensions, and takeaways from that conversation—plus reflections on what made this event such a must-attend moment for the education and AI communities.

👉 The Big Debate: Is AI a threat to foundational learning, or a tool for building student agency?

🎧 Inside this special episode:

✅ Why educators are grappling with AI’s role in critical thinking, ethics, and skill-building

✅ How different schools are approaching AI policy—from cautious restriction to full integration

✅ The tension between AI’s potential for equity vs. its environmental and ethical concerns

✅ What last night’s event revealed about the urgency and passion behind this conversation

Sharing the conversation with Seth are the founders of AI Portland, Nicole Mors and Megan Notarte.

🔥 Panelists discussed in this episode:

• Dr. Isabelle Boleyn (Associate Professor) – Highlights the risks of AI, from bias to environmental impact

• John Down (University of Portland Professor) – Predicts AI will radically transform education in the next five years

• Chris Brita (Portland Public Schools CTE, AP & IB Leader) – Advocates for AI as a tool for equity and access

• Marty Sampson (High School English Teacher) – Shares a pragmatic approach to AI policies in the classroom

Why this episode matters:

“You don’t have to love AI. But you do need to engage with it—because your students already are.” – Eric Hudson

This conversation makes one thing clear: The future of education is not about banning or blindly adopting AI—it’s about building ‘wide walls, not narrow hallways’ for students to explore their learning with agency and ethical awareness.

Visit https://www.aipdx.info/ for more information about Megan and Nicole's project, AI Portland.