Welcome to Trending in ED AI, brought to you by Palmer Media, the same folks who produce the flagship education podcast Trending in Ed. In this special milestone edition, host Mike Palmer is joined by our virtual co-host, Nancy, to explore the exciting and rapidly evolving world of Artificial Intelligence through a learning lens.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The Canny Centaur: We revisit key concepts like the “canny centaur” and navigating the “uncanny valley,” exploring how to effectively blend AI with human intuition and empathy to enhance learning without losing the human touch.
• AI in Practice & Pop Culture: We dive into AI’s immediate applications in education, from personalized tutoring systems reminiscent of Baymax from Big Hero 6 to accelerating skill development through simulations, much like Neo in The Matrix. We also touch on ethical considerations from series like Black Mirror, discussing data privacy and algorithmic bias.
• Sycophantic Drift: Discover the fascinating concept of “sycophantic drift”—how AI assistants can unintentionally become overly agreeable, and the design challenge this poses for providing accurate feedback in educational AI.
• The Future of AI Hardware: We explore the intriguing collaboration between Jony Ive and Sam Altman on new AI hardware, including speculation around an “AI surveillance medallion,” and its implications for privacy and continuous data capture.
• Contrasting AI Philosophies: We highlight the differing perspectives of prominent AI leaders, contrasting Luis von Ahn of Duolingo’s “AI-first” strategy with Dario Amodei of Anthropic’s focus on AI safety and ethical alignment.
• Mary Meeker’s AI Report: We break down Mary Meeker’s latest report on AI adoption, revealing its unprecedented speed, plummeting inference costs, and the “great reshuffling” of job roles that signals AI as a mandatory infrastructure.

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