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Honest Conversations About AI: The Need for Truth

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From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

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AI honesty in education. Are we being honest about how we're using it, where it is not a good fit, and where we should integrate it? In today’s world, we all need to be brave enough to look through the telescope and tell the truth about what we see. We need to look at AI use in our classroom and school with fresh eyes, without the pressure of what everyone around us says we should see. If we’re going to move forward, we need to understand very human issues, including honesty, and what to do in a world where the research can lag decades behind a new technology.

And beyond all things, we all need to be truthful and open about what we're observing and where we have concerns. This is not the time to have an echo chamber. Quite the opposite. I believe that if education is to be successful in the AI age, we have to cherish the thoughtful dialog that respects all voices that we really wish the world had more of today. Let's be part of the conversation and encourage more voices to join in about their observations. When you listen to today's show, you'll see there's a research-based reason we need to do this for now! AI research in education will take years to test and replicate!

I wonder if we’re so used to looking for best practices that we start hanging everything on any new research study before it's peer-reviewed and before the results are replicated in classrooms everywhere else. As AI evolves, so do our opinions. I know I’ve gotten excited about research only to see it contradicted or caveated just days later. So, today we’re not going to talk about what is happening in the headlines; we’ll focus on the hallways of high schools and colleges around the country. In this show, I sat down with two thought leaders in the AI space: Justin Reich from MIT and Dr. Christian Miller, whose new book, The Honesty Crisis, was released on May 19, 2026. Let’s have some honest conversations about AI honesty in education. I hope you’ll join in with your comments.

Listen to the Show
  • The research is thinner than you think — and that’s not an excuse for inaction. According to the Stanford SCALE 2026 review, of more than 800 academic papers in the AI-in-education research repository, only 20 produce strong causal evidence — and none of those 20 are in US K–12 settings. Justin Reich says that in the absence of rigorous research, teachers need to become micro-experimenters in their own classrooms, sharing what they observe with colleagues.
  • Domain knowledge isn’t old-fashioned — it’s the gateway to using AI well. A 2025 MIT Media Lab preprint found that students who used AI for essay writing showed up to 55% reduced neural connectivity compared to those who wrote independently — and 83% could not quote from their own AI-assisted essays. For students still building foundational knowledge, handing off cognitive work to AI may short-circuit the productive struggle that creates real learning. Reich argues the question isn’t whether to use AI, but whether your students have the domain knowledge to use it wisely.
  • Students are more honest about AI than we might expect — and that honesty is a resource. The Homework Machine podcast, which interviewed 90+ teachers and 30+ students across the country, found that many students will tell you — if you ask — exactly how and why they use AI. Episode 4, “Busted,” reveals what happens when that conversation opens up. Creating space for honest conversation, without fear, changes everything.
  • People want to be honest — but the gap between intention and action is real. Dr. Christian Miller’s research shows that most people genuinely value honesty. The problem is that when it gets hard — when social pressure is high, when the grade is on the line — we rationalize. His new book The Honesty Crisis explores that gap and what we can do about it, from classroom honor codes (backed by 30 years of research) to the personal question: are you honest with yourself about how you’re using AI?
  • Honesty starts with the teacher. Dr. Miller argues that the most powerful thing a teacher can do is model intellectual honesty — including being honest about what they don’t know, what AI can and can’t do, and where they’re still figuring things out. Both guests agree: the honest conversation in your classroom starts with you.
    • Sources & Citations: AI Research in Education

    This episode references the following research and resources:

    1. The Honesty Telescope Story: Benno Müller-Hill, “Science, Truth and Other Values,” The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 68, 1993, pp. 399–407. JSTOR (access required).
    2. The Homework Machine Podcast: Justin Reich and Jesse Dukes, TeachLab Presents. Based on 90+ teacher and 30+ student interviews about AI in K–12 classrooms. teachlabpodcast.com
    3. Stanford SCALE — AI in K-12 Evidence Base (2026): “The Evidence Base on AI in K-12: A 2026 Review.” Key finding: of 800+ papers reviewed, only 20 produce strong causal evidence — none in US K–12 settings. Full PDF
    4. “Your Brain on ChatGPT” (MIT Media Lab, 2025): Kosmyna et al., preprint on ArXiv, June 2025. Key findings: LLM users showed up to 55% reduced neural connectivity; 83% of AI-assisted students could not quote from their own essays. MIT project page. Not yet peer-reviewed; small sample (54 adults); treat as preliminary.
    5. Dr. Philippa Hardman on strategic AI use: Affiliate Scholar, University of Cambridge; Learning Scientist; OpenAI Edu Advisor. LinkedIn
    6. Matthias Stadler (2024) — Cognitive Load Study. source
    7. The Honesty Crisis (Dr. Christian B. Miller, Oxford University Press, May 2026): Oxford University Press  |  Amazon
    8. The Radium Ore Revigator: A 1920s ceramic water dispenser lined with uranium-rich ore. Wikipedia  |  Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity
    9. TimeCapsuleLLM: A small language model trained on pre-1800s texts. Popular Science  |  GitHub
    10. Honor Codes Research: McCabe & Treviño foundational study, 1993; confirmed by 2022 review in Journal of College and Character. ResearchGate
    11. Shabbi Luthra, American School of Bombay: Director of Research and Development, Mumbai, India. ResearchGate

      12. A note on Google’s founding date: In this episode Justin mentions Google was founded “around 1995.” In my fact check, it turned up that Google was founded September 4, 1998 (but the Stanford research project began January 1996). His underlying point about a 25-year arc for peer research still holds, however, as the time frame matches up.

      About the Guests
      Justin Reich — Associate Professor, MIT; Host, The Homework Machine
      Dr. Justin Reich, Associate Professor at MIT and co-host of The Homework Machine podcast, shares what 120 interviews reveal about AI in K-12 classrooms.

      Justin Reich is an associate professor of digital media at MIT, and the host of the TeachLab Podcast. The latest series of TeachLab is called The Homework Machine, a limited series about the arrival of AI in K–12 schools, at teachlabpodcast.com.

      Justin is the author of Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools and Failure to Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can’t Transform Education. He is a former world history teacher, wrestling coach, and wilderness medicine instructor.

      Follow Justin: @bjfr on X/Twitter  |  Teaching Systems Lab, MIT  |  The Homework Machine podcast

      Dr. Christian B. Miller — A. C. Reid Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University
      Dr. Christian Miller, author of The Honesty Crisis (Oxford University Press, 2026), explores what research tells us about honesty, AI, and academic integrity.

      Dr. Miller is the A. C. Reid Professor of Philosophy at Wake Forest University. He was most recently the Director of the Honesty Project, funded by a $4.4 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation. He is the author of over 130 academic papers as well as four books with Oxford University Press: Moral Character: An Empirical Theory (2013), Character and Moral Psychology (2014), The Character Gap: How Good Are We? (2017), and Honesty: The Philosophy and Psychology of a Neglected Virtue (2021). His new book, The Honesty Crisis: Preserving Our Most Treasured Virtue in an Increasingly Dishonest World is published by Oxford University Press and releases May 19, 2026.

      Follow Dr. Miller: @CharacterGap on Facebook  |  christianbmiller.com  |  Wake Forest Philosophy Dept.

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          • If this conversation has added value to your teaching, I’d be so grateful if you’d connect with me on LinkedIn and share what you learned — it helps more educators find the show.

          Disclosure of Material Connection: This episode includes some affiliate links. This means that if you choose to buy I will be paid a commission on the affiliate program. However, this is at no additional cost to you. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

          About Vicki Davis

          Vicki Davis has been a teacher and IT director since 2002 in Georgia. She has been blogging at the Cool Cat Teacher Blog since 2005 and hosting the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast since 2017. Cool Cat Teacher Talk airs on radio, public access TV, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms. Vicki is also a popular education speaker — learn more about bringing her to your school or conference.

          The post Honest Conversations About AI: The Need for Truth appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

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