Welcome to episode 285 (“Sydney is Scary”) of the EdTech Situation Room from March 1, 2023, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer@mastodon.cloud) discussed the latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI), tech corrections, Google and Apple news, privacy, social media, hardware news, media literacy, and geeks of the week. One significant topic of discussion was OpenAI’s announcement of an API for ChatGPT and Whisper Speech to Text Tech. The hosts noted that this development could result in a host of new tools that utilize the power of the OpenAI platform and ChatGPT, enabling developers to create new and innovative solutions. They also cautioned against blindly accepting the information generated by AI tools and suggested that users fact-check the information they receive. The hosts also discussed the potential impact of ChatGPT on education, specifically on essay writing, assessment, and college admissions. They noted that ChatGPT’s capabilities pose significant challenges to traditional essay writing and assessment methods and that its ability to generate convincing responses could potentially disrupt the college admissions process. Another topic discussed on the show was Facebook’s new fee for verification. The hosts compared this fee to a protection fee and noted that while they would not pay to have a checkmark next to their name on social media platforms, some users might pay the fee to avoid having their data traded. Overall, the hosts emphasized the importance of experimenting with AI tools and sharing the results with the community. They also urged caution when using such tools and stressed the need to fact-check the information they generate. The show provided valuable insights into the latest developments in education technology and their potential impact on the future of education. Geeks of the Week included Camel – Camel – Camel, Durable AI website generator and “The Last Soviet” podcast. AI Use Disclosure: ChatGPT was used to summarize and generate the topics for this show description. Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 9 pm Eastern / 8 pm Central / 7 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. Stay savvy and safe!
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- Jason Neiffer (Mastodon: mastodon.cloud/@neif – Twitter: @techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
- Wes Fryer (Mastodon: mastodon.cloud/@wfryer Twitter: @wfryer) – wesfryer.com/after
- Archive.today – website capture (similar to Archive.org WayBack Machine)
- OpenAI announces an API for ChatGPT and its Whisper speech-to-text tech (The Verge; 1 March 2023)
- Bing’s A.I. Chat: ‘I Want to Be Alive. 😈’ (New York Times; 17 February 2023) 🎁Link – archive.today version
- A Conversation With Bing’s Chatbot Left Me Deeply Unsettled (New York Times; 17 February 2023)🎁Link – archive.today version
- Sunday Special: An Episode of ‘Hard Fork’ (NYTimes The Daily)
- Microsoft limits Bing chat to five replies to stop the AI from getting real weird (The Verge; 17 February 2023)
- Microsoft “lobotomized” AI-powered Bing Chat, and its fans aren’t happy (ArsTechnica, 17 Feb 2023)
- Google’s AI chatbot Bard makes factual error in first demo (The Verge; 8 February 2023)
- Sci-fi becomes real as renowned magazine closes submissions due to AI writers (ArsTechnica; 21 February 2023)
- Inside the Minds of Spiders, Octopuses and Artificial Intelligence (Ezra Klein podcast, 24 Feb 2023)
- Episode 409: ChatGPT takes on the smart home (Internet of Things Podcast, Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin C. Tofel, 9 Feb 2023)
- Ban TikTok? (Today Explained podcast, 21 Feb 2023) – Mastodon quote on Project Texas
- Project Texas: The Details of TikTok’s Plan to Remain Operational in the United States (Lawfare, 26 Jan 2023)
- YouTube tests adding podcasts to ‘Create’ button alongside other new podcast tools & analytics (9 to 5 Google; 20 February 2023)
- Apple flexes lobbying power as Apple Watch ban comes before Biden next week (The Hill; 17 February 2023)
- Will Meta Begin Charging for Verified Accounts? Yes! (Snopes; 28 February 2023)
- Twitter’s two-factor authentication change “doesn’t make sense” (ArsTechnica, 20 Feb 2023)
- Facebook’s new $12 fee is straight out of Don Corleone’s playbook (Washington Post, 23 Feb 2023) #GiftLink
- Social media used to be free. Not anymore. (Vox, 21 Feb 2023)
- Jason: Camel Camel Camel
- Wes: Durable AI website generator and The Last Soviet Podcast
