EdTechSR Ep 346 AI Hallucinations & Hardware

Welcome to episode 346 (“AI Hallucinations & Hardware”) of the EdTech Situation Room from February 5, 2025, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week, Dr. Jason Neiffer (aicentrist.com) and Dr. Wesley Fryer (wesfryer.com) dug deep into the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, comparing Google’s Gemini 2.0, ChatGPT-4o, Claude, and DeepSeek to assess their strengths, hallucination issues, and classroom use cases. The hosts also examined the looming Windows 10 end-of-life deadline and what it means for schools, legacy devices, and digital sustainability. Other highlights included the dual-use implications of drone technology in education and conflict, growing concerns about AI-driven robocalls, and the implications of shifting US-China tech trade policy. As always, the show concluded with their “Geeks of the Week,” featuring home automation projects and ethical explorations of AI tools in education. Our show was live-streamed and archived on YouTube Live via StreamYard.com. Please follow our @EdTechSR page on Facebook, @edtechsr@mastodon.education on Mastodon for updates, and join LIVE on Wednesday nights if you can. All show notes are available at edtechSR.com/links.

Shownotes

1. Subscribe to our EdTechSR Substack Newsletter!
2. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
3. Follow EdTechSR on Facebook, BlueSky, Mastodon and Substack!
4. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
5. Video version on YouTube
6. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
7. Jason Neiffer: aicentrist.com
8. Wes Fryer: wesfryer.com
9. Google launches new AI models and brings ‘thinking’ to Gemini (TechCrunch, 5 Feb 2025)
10. Elon Musk Wants to Get Operational Control of the Treasury’s Payment System. This Could Not Possibly Be More Dangerous (Nathan Tankus, 3 Feb 2025) 
11. China opens Google antitrust probe in retaliation to tariffs (The Verge 4 Feb 2025)
12. Microsoft has a big Windows 10 problem, and it’s running out of time to solve it (ZDnet, 4 Feb 2025)
13. Robocallers posing as FCC staff blocked after robocalling real FCC staff (ArsTechnica, 5 Feb 2025)
14. Drone locates missing hiker at Crowders Mountain State Park (WBTV Charlotte, NC: 3 Feb 2025)
15. Drones are now launching drones to attack other drones in Ukraine (ArsTechnica, 4 Feb 2025) 
16. Shein and Temu depend on a 100-year-old tariff loophole that Trump wants to close (The Verge, 3 Feb 2025)
17. Jason’s Geek of the Week: https://developers.home-assistant.io/docs/operating-system/ 
18. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: AI Chatbot Ethics  – Sharing Mastodon Lists