Welcome to Episode 300 (“Educators Eye AI Ethics”) of the EdTech Situation Room from August 2, 2023, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week, Dr. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (wesfryer.com/after) welcomed viewers to the milestone 300th episode of the EdTech Situation Room on August 2, 2023. They discussed technology’s rapid advancements, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI), and how educators can thoughtfully integrate new tools into the classroom. The hosts reflected on the show’s history analyzing educational technology news over 299 prior episodes. They outlined the main topics to be covered, including AI, tech policy, Apple, Google, social media, and their weekly “Geeks of the Week” recommendations. Jason and Wes delved into several Google Chrome updates, examining their implications for users and schools. They critiqued proposed regulations cracking down on tech giants in Canada and Europe as going too far in restricting online linking and personalized ads. However, the hosts agreed greater privacy protections are needed in the U.S. Shifting to AI, the hosts were excited by Claude, Anthropic’s new AI chatbot alternative to ChatGPT. They were impressed with Claude’s ability to mimic a user’s writing style when provided samples and to generate content based on analyzing uploaded PDFs. Jason and Wes discussed AI’s potential to transform assessments, emphasizing the need for educators to thoughtfully integrate it into their practice. They also covered several other AI topics, including ethical AI development, using AI in Hollywood productions, and the Worldcoin project linking cryptocurrency to biometric facial/retinal scanning. In closing, Jason and Wes shared their “Geeks of the Week,” including downloadable instructions for 6800 Lego kits and the Google Robotics Lab Segment of the July 28th New York Times Hard Fork Podcast. The show was live-streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as Facebook Live via StreamYard.com. Please follow @edtechSR on Twitter and @edtechsr@mastodon.education on Mastodon for updates, and join LIVE on Wednesday nights if you can. All shownotes are available on edtechSR.com/links. AI Disclosure: An initial draft of this episode summary was generated using youtubetranscript.com and claude.ai, as well as options for our show title!
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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
- What Is Worldcoin? Here’s What To Know About The Eyeball-Scanning Crypto Project Launched By OpenAI’s Sam Altman (Forbes, 24 July 2023)
- Netflix Pulls AI Content Creation From Job Listing After Backlash (Newswekk; 31 July 2023)
- The Writers’ Strike Over AI Is Bigger Than Hollywood (The Markup; 29 July 2023)
- Google will ‘supercharge’ Assistant with AI that’s more like ChatGPT and Bard (The Verge; 31 July 2023)
- Dario Amodei, C.E.O. of Anthropic, on the Paradoxes of A.I. Safety and Netflix’s ‘Deep Fake Love’’ (New York TImes; 21 July 2023)
- OpEd: Lindsey Graham and Elizabeth Warren: When It Comes to Big Tech, Enough Is Enough (NYTimes, 27 July 2023) #GiftLink
- Meta loses battle in EU, will ask for consent to show personalized ads (ArsTechnica, 1 Aug 2023)
- Elon Musk’s Unmatched Power in the Stars (NYTimes, 28 July 2023) #GiftLink
- Meta starts blocking news in Canada over law on paying publishers (Reuters, 1 Aug 2023)
- Google Chrome officially removing the download bar for a new tray UI (9to5Google, 2 Aug 2023)
- First look at the new Microsoft 365 Chromebook integration (About Chromebooks; 24 July 2023)
- ‘No sign’ Apple will launch generative AI in 2024, says Kuo (9to5Mac, 2 Aug 2023)
- Jason’s Geek of the Week: You Can Download Instructions for More Than 6,800 LEGO Kits for Free (LifeHacker; 29 July 2023)
- Wes’ Geek of the Week: Google Robotics Lab Segment, NYT Hard Fork Podcast (28 July 2023, at 40:00) – Mastodon share
