Episode 15- Season 2- Academic Integrity in the Age of AI- Tim Howes

Season 2 opens with a raw and timely conversation between Bob Hutchins and Tim Howes about one of education's biggest challenges: academic integrity in the age of generative AI. As schools race to adapt, many are responding with surveillance and bans, but Bob and Tim ask a deeper question-what if the problem isn't AI, but the system itself? They explore how generative tools are not creating dishonesty but revealing cracks in outdated assessment models, why detection software erodes trust, and how educators can rethink learning through transparency, reflection, and prompt literacy instead of punishment. 🧠 Key Themes Redefining Academic Integrity: Integrity is no longer about "doing your own work," but about demonstrating your own judgment and transparency in using AI responsibly. Policing vs. Trust: Detection tools and AI surveillance create a culture of suspicion. True integrity grows from relationships, mentorship, and open dialogue. Systemic Rot in Education: AI didn't cause dishonesty—it exposed how transactional learning and grade-focused systems fail to nurture genuine understanding. Prompts as the New 'Show Your Work': Instead of grading AI outputs, teachers can assess the quality of a student's prompts, which reveal depth of knowledge and critical thinking. Inequity and the AI Divide: Well-resourced schools teach AI fluency. Others teach avoidance. Without intervention, AI will widen the digital divide between students who learn to use it creatively and those who are punished for it. 💬 Quotes from the Episode "Detection doesn't build honesty. Relationships do." – Tim Howes "If AI can do the task, maybe it's the wrong task." – Tim Howes "Integrity wasn't working before AI. Generative tools just made the cracks visible." – Bob Hutchins "Grading the prompt, not the output, reveals the student's understanding." – Bob Hutchins