AI schools, para-social relationships and more: New episodes of AIR|GPT

by | Tuesday, February 04, 2025

I am a co-host of a relatively new podcast called AIR | GPT with Caroline Fell Kurban, Liz Kolb, Ruben Puentedura, and Helen Crompton. Our conversations are masterfully orchestrated by Emmy Award-winning executive producer Errol St.Clair Smith. For the uninitiated, the conceit of the show is that the hosts run into each other, once a month, in a virtual airport lounge for unscripted, candid discussions about where AI and education are heading.

That’s a show with a massive (virtual) carbon footprint. Just saying.

I have been somewhat lax in sharing our episodes. Well there are three I need to mention: the first two aired towards the end of last year, and one that landed earlier today.

Our latest episode (AI schools are catching on) dives into the case of Unbound Academy, Arizona’s newly approved all-AI school. I have been quite upfront about my opinions on this, but I am aware that there are other perspectives. So what happens when artificial intelligence becomes the primary driver of K-12 education? Our discussion really got into both the bold promises and serious concerns this experiment raises for the future of teaching and learning.

In a prior episode (Para-social Relationships: The Pros and Cons of Falling in Love With Generative AI), we got deep into something that’s been on many educators’ minds: our evolving (and sometimes complicated) relationship with generative AI. From the classroom to broader society, we explored how these tools are reshaping not just how we learn, but how we connect and interact. The conversation took some unexpected turns, especially when we discussed the emotional bonds people are forming with AI systems.

We also did a fun year-end episode (2024 Mic Drop on the AIR GPT Podcast) where we tried out NotebookLM’s podcast feature to generate a roundup of our discussions. That was quite an interesting experiment in itself!

You can find AIR | GPT on most major podcast platforms.

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