How AI is reshaping what kids need to learn | Episode 995 of The Education Gadfly Show

This week, Mike Petrilli returns for a solo episode to dig into artificial intelligence—not classroom tools or teaching tips, but the big-picture implications of AI for what students need to learn as work, citizenship, and even human flourishing rapidly evolve.

Then, on the Research Minute, David Griffith highlights a study linking the recent rise in child labor violations to declining school attendance—especially among Black youth and students living on farms.

Recommended content: 

• A “Zero-Based Budgeting” Approach for High School Course Requirements in the Age of AI — Michael J. Petrilli for The Center on Reinventing Public Education
• The illusion of learning: The danger of artificial intelligence for education — Robert Pondiscio, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
• AI Will Transform The Workplace. Will Education Keep Up? — Matt Gandal, Forbes
• Contemporary Child Labor and Declining School Attendance in the U.S —Lucy C. Sorensen, Melissa Arnold Lyon, Ji Hyun Byeon, and Stephen B. Holt, EdWorkingPapers (2025)

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