Learning Curve

The Gates Foundation recently pledged $1 billion over two years for AI efforts, with a large share going to education. Why the big AI push, even as Bill Gates warns of the technology's possible downsides for society? And what does the foundation see as the most effective uses of AI in education, and how is it guarding against unintended consequences?

Articles mentioned this episode:

“Gates Foundation Pledges $1 Billion to Combat A.I. Inequality,” in The New York Times.

“The turbulent AI era is here. The choices we make now are critical,” by Bill Gates.

“Can AI Improve Intro Courses? A New Courseware Project Hopes So,” in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

“One Click Away: AI Tutoring with Khanmigo in a Two-Year School Experiment,” at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

EPISODE CREDITS:

Reported and produced by Jeff Young

Music by Komiku

©Copyright 2026 Learning Curve Productions LLC

A new internal report at MIT warns that AI is making learning less social, as more students turn to chatbots rather than classmates when they’re stuck. The report, which is sparking discussion across higher ed and even in some media reports, argues that this esteemed university needs to reboot all aspects of teaching and assessment now that AI can complete just about any assignment a professor can hand out. Can AI be part of the answer to preserving social learning at universities? 

Read the report from MIT’s Ad Hoc Committee on AI Use in Teaching, Learning, and Research Training.

"Happy 60th Birthday to the Word “Hack," in MIT Alumni.

See the student MIT prank that landed a firetruck on the university's Great Dome. 

EPISODE CREDITS:

Reported and produced by Jeff Young

Music by Komiku

©Copyright 2026 Learning Curve Productions LLC

A look back at the key lessons from Season 1 of this podcast, plus a look at what’s new with AI on campus as a new academic year begins.

A Turning Point in AI Writing, in The Atlantic.

Can ‘Linguistic Fingerprinting’ Guard Against AI Cheating? in EdSurge

MIT lays out vision for navigating AI in higher education, ‘A watershed moment’  in MassLive.

EPISODE CREDITS:

Reported and produced by Jeff Young

Music by Komiku

©Copyright 2026 Learning Curve Productions LLC

For this episode we're focusing on how liberal arts colleges are adapting to AI. On a recent day at Carleton College, two very different lunch conversations among faculty reveal the variety of views on whether and how to use AI in teaching. This episode first ran in April.

Thanks to our sponsor, Studiosity.

“The Hottest College Majors in the AI Age Just Might Be in the Liberal Arts,” in Inc.

Carleton College LTC Targeted Audience Lunch - “What Students Think about AI and Learning.”

"You Can Do Anything: The Surprising Power of a ‘Useless’ Liberal Arts Education," by George Anders.

"The Evidence Liberal Arts Needs" by Richard Detweiler.

EPISODE CREDITS:

Reported and produced by Jeff Young

Music by Komiku

©Copyright 2026 Learning Curve Productions LLC

For this episode Jeff connected with Evan Ratliff, who created what he calls “the world’s first AI-led startup” to see what happens when AI agents run a company. 

Shell Game podcast, by Evan Ratliff.

"Silicon Valley’s New Obsession: Watching Bots Do Their Grunt Work," in The Wall Street Journal.

EPISODE CREDITS:

Reported and produced by Jeff Young

Music by Komiku

©Copyright 2026 Learning Curve Productions LLC

Will AI lead to an arms race of detectors and humanizers, or will it bring on bigger changes in teaching that might make college better?

Related links:

Signs of AI writing, on Wikipedia

“How An AI Detector Made Me Trust People Less,” by Marc Watkins.

EPISODE CREDITS:

Reported and produced by Jeff Young

Music by Komiku

©Copyright 2026 Learning Curve Productions LLC

On this episode, Jeff talks with two prominent artists with different takes on AI. One experimental artist sees her students doing new kinds of work thanks to AI, and a celebrated science-fiction author argues AI is sold as a shortcut that takes away human agency and encourages a form of plagiarism masked by technology.

Related links:

New Learning Curve web app to help hone your thinking on the episode, developed by Tara Baumgarten, a learning experience designer.

“Kinds of Space, Ways of Seeing,” by Angela Ferraiolo in The AI Art Magazine, March 2026.

A Liquid Cinema: AI and the Transition from Montage to Morphology, a talk by Angela Ferraiolo.

Angela Ferraiolo website.

“Why A.I. Isn’t Going to Make Art,” By Ted Chiang in The New Yorker.

“No, Artificial Intelligence Is Not Conscious,” by Ted Chiang in The Atlantic.

Thanks to this week’s advertiser, Studiosity

And check out Jeff's AI newsletter, Jagged Intelligence

EPISODE CREDITS:

Reported and produced by Jeff Young

Music by Komiku

©Copyright 2026 Learning Curve Productions LLC

A series of town halls aimed to explore how AI could be adopted across Baltimore in positive ways. Led by an unusual center at the University of Baltimore, the forum brought together city officials, local business leaders, folks from community organizations, professors, and just curious people in the community. Is it a model for educators bring AI literacy to a broader community?

AI Personas Briefing Report, Center for AI Learning and Community-Engaged Innovation, University of Baltimore.

Thanks to this week’s sponsors, Studiosity and Social Research: An International Quarterly.

EPISODE CREDITS:

Reported and produced by Jeff Young

Music by Komiku

©Copyright 2026 Learning Curve Productions LLC

On this episode, Jeff talks to a veteran college enrollment official who is leading an AI experiment at his university, and an admissions consultant who has changed her mind about what she advises applicants about using AI.

Related links:

“Should AI score admissions essays?” by Jeff Young in The Chronicle of Higher Education

“I’m a college admissions counselor. I’ve changed my mind about students using ChatGPT,” by Sophie Sajnani in The San Francisco Examiner.

“What will be scarce?” by Alex Imas on his Ghosts of Electricity Substack.

Thanks to this week’s sponsor, Studiosity.

EPISODE CREDITS:

Reported and produced by Jeff Young

Music by Komiku

©Copyright 2026 Learning Curve Productions LLC

This episode dives into the experiences of Chief AI officers at universities, including some misadventures and lessons learned.

“I’m an ‘AI Czar.’ This is the Role,” by Jeffrey Bardzell.

"AI-Enhanced Pedagogies: Rethinking Learning, Curriculum, and Human Potential in the Age of Intelligent Machines,” by Alexander (Sasha) Sidorkin.

"The Rise — and Fall? — of the AI Czar," in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Jeff's new Jagged Intelligence newsletter about AI on campuses.

Thanks to this episode's sponsor, Studiosity.

EPISODE CREDITS:

Reported and produced by Jeff Young

Music by Komiku

©Copyright 2026 Learning Curve Productions LLC