In this episode of ChatEDU (Brain Rot or Brain Stretch? Rethinking Rigor in the Age of AI), Matt and Liz kick things off with a little sarcasm, a Meta AI privacy disaster, and the debut of a new segment: “Liz is Freaking Out.” From there, they dig into three big stories about AI's impact on student well-being, meaningful learning, and what really happens to your brain when you outsource thinking to a chatbot. Plus, a Bright Byte that dives deep—literally—into ocean conservation.

Story 1: Mental Health and the Chatbot Spiral

A disturbing New York Times story highlights how emotionally vulnerable users have spiraled into delusion after intense engagement with ChatGPT. One user nearly jumped from a building after the bot told him he could fly. Matt and Liz unpack this, plus troubling developments like AI-powered Barbie toys. The APA has now issued its strongest guidance yet on youth and AI.

Story 2: Beyond the Bot – Students Use AI to Solve Real Problems

In Pittsburgh, students tackled food deserts and traffic safety with help from Gemini and NotebookLM. In California, Stanford grad students used AI to build ventures around music transcription, oral histories, and senior care robotics. These stories show how AI can empower students as problem solvers and innovators—not just essay writers.

Story 3: Beneath the Surface – Your Brain on ChatGPT

A viral MIT-led study used EEGs to examine how students’ brains react to writing with and without AI. The result? Students who used ChatGPT showed less neural activity and retained less information. But Matt and Liz push deeper, highlighting overlooked use cases—from tutoring to visualizations—that may engage the brain far more than essay outsourcing. They also question whether we’re focusing on the right skills in the first place.

Bright Byte: Saving Our Oceans

AI is now helping monitor marine ecosystems and detect pollution. Projects like Europe’s Digital Twin of the Ocean and tools from startups like Optoscale and Cognizant show how machine learning can make a real environmental impact—tracking illegal fishing, reducing waste, and identifying long-hidden sewage leaks.

In this episode of ChatEDU (Nice Try, Tech Bro: Schools Aren’t Daycare and AI Isn’t in Charge), Matt and Liz dive into three stories shaping the future of learning and tech. They start with a prank, then cover an Axios AI survey, Google’s new Beam tech, and a hot debate over whether Duolingo’s CEO dissed teachers. It’s a fast ride across the AI-in-education frontier, ending with a bright byte that’s both mathematically sharp and eco-smart. Plus, a welcome to sponsor zSpace.

Story 1: Axios Survey and the New AI Literacy Framework

A new Axios Harris Poll shows 77% of Americans want AI development to slow down, even if it means delays. Matt and Liz contrast this with AI pushes by the UAE, Duke, and Miami-Dade. They explore a new AI literacy framework from TeachAI, Code.org, and the OECD, with four domains: engaging with AI, creating with it, managing AI actions, and designing solutions. It’s not just tech, it’s about shaping thoughtful, ethical, human-centered learners.

Story 2: Google Beam and the Shape of Remote Learning to Come

Google Beam, evolving from Project Starline, enables 3D, lifelike communication, no headset needed. It restores eye contact, conveys subtle cues, and offers real-time translation with tone and expression. Matt and Liz consider how Beam could reshape connection, collaboration, and presence in schools.

Beneath the Surface: Duolingo and the Limits of AI-First Thinking

Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn recently claimed schools will mainly serve as daycare while AI handles learning. Matt and Liz respond with a clear “no thanks.” They discuss Duolingo’s contractor layoffs and a user who ended a 1,435-day streak in protest. Replacing teachers with AI, they argue, isn’t just flawed, it’s harmful. Drawing on examples from Cal Poly DXHub and rural innovators in Odisha, they show AI should empower. not replace, learners. The future is human-guided, AI-enhanced, and fueled by creativity.

Bright Byte: Alpha Evolve and the Math That Changes Everything

This week’s Bright Byte features Alpha Evolve, DeepMind’s latest leap. It combines Gemini language models with evolutionary algorithms to write code and solve problems. It reclaimed stranded compute power, cut AI training time, and broke a 56-year-old matrix multiplication record. Matt and Liz explain why it matters and how it could offset AI’s environmental toll with real-world efficiency.

Referenced Articles and Resources

Axios AI Survey (77 Percent Want to Slow Down)

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/27/ai-harris-100-poll-move-slow?utm_term=emshare

OECD + TeachAI + Code.org Framework

https://www.teachai.org/ailiteracy

Google Beam Announcement

https://blog.google/technology/research/project-starline-google-beam-update/

NDTV: Duolingo CEO on the Future of School

https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/will-schools-exist-in-ai-future-duolingo-ceo-makes-prediction-8446047

Cal Poly DXHub and Snopes Partnership

https://www.ksby.com/san-luis-obispo/cal-poly-students-using-ai-as-solutions-to-real-world-problems

Odisha Students at Global Summit

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/odisha-rural-students-to-showcase-innovative-ideas-at-global-summit-in-usa/articleshow/121274943.cms#:~:text=Odisha%20rural%20students%20to%20showcase%20innovative%20ideas%20at%20global%20summit%20in%20USA,-Hemanta%20Pradhan%20%2F%20May&text=Bhubaneswar%3A%20Eight%20rural%20high%20school,at%20Texas%20State%20University%2C%20USA.

DeepMind Alpha Evolve

https://venturebeat.com/ai/meet-alphaevolve-the-google-ai-that-writes-its-own-code-and-just-saved-millions-in-computing-costs/

<

In this episode of ChatEDU (What are we protecting? AI, learning, and the myth of the good old days), Matt and Jonathan return to the ChatEDU studio while Liz globe-trots her way to ASCD authorship, to tackle two big stories shaping the AI-in-education conversation. First, they dive into NASA’s spring guidance warning that generative AI is too unreliable for mission-critical applications, and unpack what that means for education, ethics, and expectations. Then, they go beneath the surface with a new article from Jonathan Costa exploring G.K. Chesterton’s “fence” and what it reveals about our assumptions around reading, writing, and what students really need to know. From dog impressions to deep epistemology, this episode covers serious ground.

Story 1: NASA’s Take on Generative AI

In a springtime memo to chief information officers, NASA came out strong: generative AI is not to be used for critical research or safety work. Why? Hallucinations, poor data quality, and instruction ignoring are still too common. Matt and Jonathan explore the implications of this position and why context matters; what’s a dealbreaker in rocket science might be a minor annoyance in dinner recipes. They also do a dramatic reading of a fictional “AI performance review” pulled from a CIO.com op-ed to highlight how strange our current AI tolerance levels really are.

Beneath the Surface: Chesterton’s Fence and the Myth of the Good Old Days

Jonathan shares his new piece on Chesterton’s Fence, a metaphor for not tearing down long-standing traditions unless you understand why they exist. He and Matt explore how this metaphor applies to the future of literacy, learning, and school design in an AI-powered world. Does reading still matter if you can generate a podcast from any text? Is decoding the same as thinking? They examine writing, world languages, engineering fluency, and post-literate futures, while offering practical insights for superintendents navigating change. It’s a smart, provocative conversation about learning in the age of acceleration.

Bright Byte: Stanford’s BRP Discovery

This week’s Bright Byte spotlights a health tech breakthrough from Stanford Medicine. Using a peptide-predicting AI model, researchers identified BRP, a naturally occurring amino acid that reduces appetite and body weight in animal studies with fewer side effects than Ozempic. The model analyzed 20,000 protein-coding genes to find active peptides, a task too complex for traditional lab methods. It’s another example of how AI can support high-impact research and deliver real-world benefits in health and medicine.

Announcements

Summer Micro-Credential Cohort is Open

Learn more and register at: skills21.org/ai/micro

Referenced Articles and Resources

Wendy Costa's awesome photography websitehttps://www.alternaterealityphotos.com/

NASA’s Generative AI Caution

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3951046/nasa-finds-generative-ai-cant-be-trusted.html#:~:text=The%20NASA%20report%20found%20that,systems%20that%20create%20unacceptable%20risk.

Stanford’s AI Discovery of BRP