AI Safety: Protecting kids, schools, and society

In this episode of Education Futures, Svenia & Laurent speak with Erin Mote, Co-Founder and Executive Director of InnovateEDU, about the urgent intersection of AI safety, youth online protection, and the future of learning systems. Erin, a leading technologist and policy voice — and a mother of two — explains why safety must come first in the EDSAFE AI Alliance framework and why protecting children means safeguarding not just their data, but their experience with AI systems.

Erin breaks down the risks of biased predictive systems, engagement-optimized consumer chatbots, and AI companions — and shares emerging U.S. legislation, including a groundbreaking package of 19 federal bills focused on kids’ online safety.

Together, they explore the coming disruption of the workforce: the disappearance of entry-level jobs, the difference between automation vs displacement, and what young people must learn now to thrive in an AI-shaped economy.

Erin also outlines what a future-ready school must look like: human-centered, deeply relational, grounded in learning science, and designed to build judgment, discernment, dialogue, and metacognition — skills AI cannot replace.

A powerful and urgent conversation for educators, policymakers, and parents navigating this arrival technology.