Oh no, not the Storybooks | Ep. 123

AI storybooks backfire, relationship apps flop, and writers fight back with typos!Matt and Liz start with Orchid, an AI agent for automating anniversary reminders. Fail!The RundownGemini Notebook Studio Apps: Google is developing an Apps feature in Gemini Notebook Studio that converts source materials into interactive tools using secure cloud sandboxes.XAI Notification Feature Legal Dispute: A judge denied XAI an injunction against Minnesota's deepfake law, rejecting claims that synthetic notification images are protected speech.ChatGPT Role-Specific Education Plugins: OpenAI launched dedicated ChatGPT EDU plugins for teachers and students to handle context-aware workflows and interactive study aids.Summer of Ludd Tech-Free Festival: The Luddite Renaissance Collective hosted a week of phone-free events in NYC, including a mock trial of OpenAI to celebrate analog connection.Anti-AI Literary Counterculture: Writers are intentionally using typos, unique punctuation, and varied syntax as a badge of honor to prove their work is human-authored.Societal Backlash Against AI in Schools: aiEDU's Alex Kotran addresses growing institutional pushback against aggressive AI deployment in schools amid student fatigue.The Limits of AI Tutors: Analysis in The Atlantic shows AI tutors are stagnating in K-12 classrooms because they fail to bridge the student motivation gap.Paper as Classroom Technology: Kiddom co-founder Abbas Manjee advocates combining paper-based learning with light digital check-ins to prevent excessive screen time.Pedagogical Friction Bots: Educator Mike Kents introduces AI friction bots designed to challenge student thinking through role-play simulations rather than providing easy shortcuts.Beneath the Surface: AI Children's StorybooksMatt and Liz cover AI storybook slop from grandparents, photo privacy, and a study where anti-bias guardrails cut female characters to 2% of roles.Bright ByteSharvi Mahajan, 14, is a 3M Young Scientist Challenge finalist for NeuroDrive Alert, an AI-EEG system that detects driver fatigue and microsleep.AnnouncementsPurchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth RaddayAmazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7aFall AI Conference: October 2, 2026 - https://tinyurl.com/4k6x9scxCheck out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/socialAddress Screen Time concerns - skills21.org/ai/screenshiftSponsorsThe National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing: Your Gateway to Next Generation Advanced Manufacturing - https://www.nextgenmfg.orgLinksAI Fixes Boyfriend Incompetencehttps://tinyurl.com/35ebkf5vInteractive Apps for Gemini Notebookhttps://tinyurl.com/2pvfz52wJudge Rejects xAI Challenge to Nudification Banhttps://tinyurl.com/mdpzav6zNew Ways to Teach with ChatGPT Work and Codexhttps://tinyurl.com/hp5sbbvnLuddism Is Fun Againhttps://tinyurl.com/54m4buppThe Anti-AI Literary Counterculturehttps://tinyurl.com/2fjbtp6tAI Backlash Is Brewinghttps://tinyurl.com/43e5x8vrAI Won't Fix Motivationhttps://tinyurl.com/4wny7kj2Tech Meets Pencil and Paper in NYC Math Classeshttps://tinyurl.com/24hs4nrmDoes AI Practice Work?https://tinyurl.com/364pvf6mBoomers Keep Gifting Grandkids AI Slop Bookshttps://tinyurl.com/b8e3w7bdFemale Characters Vanish in AI Kids' Storieshttps://tinyurl.com/58jrb4w314-Year-Old Builds AI That Catches Drowsy Drivershttps://tinyurl.com/4u6acjvm