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Startup Dad

Educating Your Kids In A Technology-First World | Jeremy Howard (Dad of 1, Fast.ai, Fastmail, Kaggle)

Mar 20, 2025
01:07:06

Jeremy Howard is a leader in the data science and AI communities. Along with his partner, Dr. Rachel Thomas, he is the co-founder of Fast.ai - a research lab studying how to make deep learning more accessible and widely applicable and the founder of AI R&D lab Answer.ai. He is a professor at the University of Queensland in Australia, a digital fellow at Stanford, founded Fastmail and sold it to Opera Software, was the president and chief scientist of Kaggle, the founder and CEO of Enlitic and has been chief scientist at multiple AI companies. Jeremy has been doing intense work in the field of AI and Machine Learning since before it was fashionable. He’s also a husband and the father of one daughter. We discussed:

* Founding a company with your significant other

* How science led him to believe he’d like having kids

* A deep-dive into the evolving patterns of education

* Homeschooling and maintaining social connections in a remote environment

* The modular learning strategy

* Navigating screentime when most learning happens on a screen

* Talking to kids about interactions with AI and what’s happening behind the scenes

Where to find Jeremy Howard

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardjeremy/

* Twitter: https://x.com/jeremyphoward

Where to find Adam Fishman

* FishmanAF Newsletter: www.FishmanAFNewsletter.com

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/

* Instagram: https://ww.instagram.com/startupdadpod/

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In this episode, we cover:

[2:41] Welcome

[3:04] Professional background

[4:07] AI for the average person

[6:08] Childhood

[12:54] Family now

[15:31] Co-founding with your partner

[17:28] Decision to start a family

[19:53] Earliest memory after becoming a dad

[21:50] Homeschooling

[33:48] Homeschooling & socialization

[36:43] Screen time

[43:18] Advice for younger Jeremy

[49:10] Where you and partner don’t align

[52:09] AI & parenting

[56:07] Guardrails around educational AI

[58:28] Follow along

[59:10] Lightning round

[1:06:16] Thank you

Show references:

Fast.ai: https://www.fast.ai/

Fast ai Discord server: https://discord.com/invite/xnpeRdg

Answer.AI: https://answerai.pro/

Fastmail: https://www.fastmail.com/

Enlitic: https://enlitic.com/

Kaggle: https://www.kaggle.com/

Center for Applied Data Ethics: https://www.usfca.edu/data-institute/centers-initiatives/caide

Teach Your Monster: https://www.teachyourmonster.org/

Homer: https://learnwithhomer.com/

Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/

MathTango: https://www.originatorkids.com/mathtango/

Modulo: https://www.modulo.app/

Prodigy: https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/

Mindustry: https://mindustrygame.github.io/

Factorio: https://www.factorio.com/

Polybridge: https://www.gamepix.com/play/poly-bridge

Synthesis: https://www.synthesis.com/tutor

p5. Js: https://p5js.org/

Python: https://www.python.org/

Minecraft: https://www.minecraft.net/en-us

Strider bike: https://www.striderbikes.com/

Natural Resources (Parenting shop in the Mission, SF): https://www.naturalresources-sf.com/pages/our-space

Moana: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3521164/

Moana 2: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13622970/

Frozen: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294629/

Frozen 2: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4520988/

The Matrix: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse Series #1) by Dennis E. Taylor: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/we-are-legion-dennis-e-taylor/1125058888

The Martian by Andy Weir: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-martian-andy-weir/1114993828

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/project-hail-mary-andy-weir/1137456421

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For sponsorship inquiries email: podcast@fishmana.com.

For Startup Dad Merch: www.startupdadshop.com

Production support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at http://www.armaziproductions.com/



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit startupdadpod.substack.com

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