This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ .

On the recent wrap-up/predictions panel we had so much fascinating discussion about AI in religion with panelist Beth Singler that I said we should have her back on the show by herself to talk about that, so here she is!

Beth is the Assistant Professor in Digital Religions and co-lead of the Media Existential Encounters and Evolving Technology Lab at the University of Zurich, where she leads projects on religion and AI. As an anthropologist, her research addresses the human, religious, cultural, social, and ethical implications of developments in AI and robotics. She received the 2021 Digital Religion Research Award from the Network for New Media, Religion, and Digital Culture Studies. Her popular science communication work includes a series of award-winning short documentaries on AI. She is co-editor of the Cambridge Companion to Religion and AI, and author of Religion and AI: An Introduction, both published last year.

In part 1, we talk about why religion and AI is a thing and what its dimensions are, the influence of science fiction, tropes like End Times, AI used in religious roles, and the Singularity.

Transcript and URLs referenced at HumanCusp Blog.

This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ .

Continuing our exploration of AI in education, I am joined by Nick Potkalitsky, founder of Pragmatic AI Solutions and co-author of AI in Education: A Roadmap For Teacher-Led Transformation. With a doctorate in narrative and rhetorical studies, he leads AI curriculum integration at The Miami Valley School and develops pioneering AI literacy programs. His Substack “Educating AI” offers curriculum guidance and expert insights.

We talk about how AI has landed emotionally for teachers, whether there’s a generational divide in the different reactions teachers have had to AI, how students are using AI tools and the homework problem, the changing landscape of policies in schools, how university requirements are evolving, and the teacher-led transformation of education that Nick foresees.

All this plus our usual look at today's AI headlines.

Transcript and URLs referenced at HumanCusp Blog.

This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ .

Virtually every issue around AI – pro, con, in-between – is reflected in education right now. And teachers are on the front lines of this disruption. So it’s especially important that UNESCO – that’s the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization - has developed an AI Competency Framework for Teachers, and here to talk about that and his other work is the co-author of that framework, Mutlu Cukurova, professor of Learning and Artificial Intelligence at University College London. He investigates human-AI complementarity in education, aiming to address the pressing socio-educational challenge of preparing people for a future with AI systems that will require a great deal more than the routine cognitive skills currently prized by many education systems and traditional approaches to automation with AI. He is part of UCL's Grand Challenges on Transformative Technologies group, was named in Stanford’s Top 2% Scientists List, and is editor of the British Journal of Educational Technology and Associate Editor of the International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction.

In part 2, we talk about how the competency framework helps teachers use large language models, intelligent tutoring systems, the distinctions between human and machine intelligence, how to find the place to be human in a world of expanding AI capabilities, and the opportunities for teachers in this world.

All this plus our usual look at today's AI headlines.

Transcript and URLs referenced at HumanCusp Blog.