A Good Week for Jevons Paradox | Ep. 110

In this episode of ChatEDU, "A Good Week for Jevons Paradox," Matt and Liz kick it off with a dramatic reading of leaked text messages between Sam Altman and Mira Murati. The hosts discuss the high-stakes drama surrounding OpenAI, including Murati's testimony regarding Altman's honesty and the chaotic events leading up to his brief firing, which they jokingly refer to as "the blip."The RundownMatt and Liz engage in a spirited discussion about the Brisk Chrome extension and its integration with Gemini, questioning if "wrapper" tools add true value for educators.An examination of how Arizona State University repurposed faculty lectures into "AI slop" snippets without professor consent, leading to a significant backlash.A look at the $17 million deal with OpenAI that is facing resistance from faculty and students who feel like "test rats" due to a lack of guidance.A study from Cornell and Carnegie Mellon reveals that while lower-income students use AI more for essays, they face higher rejection rates than wealthier peers.New research highlights a sixfold increase in fabricated academic citations in research papers, signaling a shift toward superficial AI box-checking in academia.Mike Dunn, principal at Granby High School, shares a cautionary tale of a "complexity ceiling" where Gemini hallucinated teacher data during a scheduling task.The Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund announces $1.9 million in grants to youth-led organizations focused on digital safety and AI ethics.A three-part look at digital bans, featuring Richard Culatta’s warning against banning edtech, Arana Shapiro’s critique of "chocolate-covered broccoli" learning, and a report on surging library checkouts in Dallas.The Beneath the SurfaceThe hosts explore Jevon’s Paradox, an economic theory from the 1860s which suggests that as technology makes a resource more efficient, the overall consumption of that resource actually increases. They apply this theory to the "AI Jobpocalypse" predictions and conduct a thought experiment on how increased efficiency in education might lead to higher demands on teachers and students rather than less work.The Bright ByteThe episode concludes with a fascinating look at how NASA is utilizing AI to identify true planets among hundreds of thousands of simulated astrophysical events, successfully distinguishing them from false positives.AnnouncementsPurchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday. Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠ Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠⁠Address Screen Time concerns - ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠ SponsorsNectir. Welcome to the Classroom of the Future. https://www.nectir.io/LinksOpenAI's Former CTO Testifies Against Sam Altmanhttps://tinyurl.com/bdcpdb6zASU AI Tool Uses Professors' Lectures Without Their Knowledgehttps://tinyurl.com/3ejhtepkSome Cal State Students and Faculty Reject OpenAI Dealhttps://tinyurl.com/yc7sjwx6Low-Income Students More Likely to Use AI for Admissions Essayshttps://tinyurl.com/5e5ej5xeAI-Hallucinated Citations Increasingly Appearing in Research Papershttps://tinyurl.com/yc2auunhResponsible Technology Youth Power Fund Grants $1.9M to Third Cohorthttps://tinyurl.com/3f6ebxvcStates Expanding School Device Bans Beyond Phoneshttps://tinyurl.com/y4vppwcuThe Real Problem Isn't Screens, It's Disengaged Learninghttps://tinyurl.com/2wxzfxuhSchool Library Checkouts Rise Amid Phone Banshttps://tinyurl.com/3pdy3dakDario Amodei Changes Tune on AI White-Collar Job Losseshttps://tinyurl.com/22c6wu78Why the A.I. Job Apocalypse (Probably) Won’t Happenhttps://tinyurl.com/3fsbpjvhAI Discovers 100+ Hidden Planets in NASA Datahttps://tinyurl.com/yw8ac8bj