AI Education Podcast

Students as AI Innovators In this inspiring episode of the podcast, hosts Ray and Dan speak with Brett Moller, Director of Knowledge Services / Head of Creative Industries at St. Andrew’s Anglican College on the Sunshine Coast. Brett shares how his school is flipping the AI narrative — from fear and compliance to student agency, creativity, and real-world problem-solving. He discusses how students are not only using AI tools but building their own large language models, crafting apps that respond to deeply personal challenges like Parkinson’s disease and anxiety, and collaborating with local industry on meaningful tech projects. From AI-powered research assistants to empathy-led app design, Brett’s stories highlight a future where students are not just consumers, but creators of AI solutions. This episode is packed with powerful insights on ethical AI use, teacher transformation, and the evolving role of libraries, educators, and students in the AI era. Learn more about the St Andrew's story: Interview with the winning students St Andrew’s Students Win International Recognition in Apple Swift Student Challenge Eight Aussie students recognised by Apple in their WWDC Student Challenge – Three from the SAME SCHOOL! Discover more about Sandy Robinson, the new St Andrew's Research Assistant St Andrew's Instagram  Links to things mentioned in this episode: The Learner's Apprentice: AI and the Amplification of Human Creativity - Dr Ken Kahn's book GitHub project: MacMind (student-built LLMs)  Apple Swift Student Challenge Microsoft Imagine Cup "Imagine Cup Junior" in a box  

In this episode of the AI in Education Podcast, Dan and Ray dive deep into how students are really using - beyond the hype. They unpack recent findings from the Anthropic Education Report, exploring how students interact with models like Claude for study, writing, and even problem-solving. They discuss the latest sentiment data from a KPMG/University of Melbourne Business School report, "Trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence", revealing surprising differences in global optimism and concern about AI. (See the chart below, which isn't in the report, but Ray's creation from Figure 15) Plus, they share updates from Google I/O and Microsoft Build, highlight emerging trends in multi-agent systems, and reflect on how AI tools like VO are reshaping content creation. From skeptical spouses to the evolving role of educators, this episode blends data, insight, and laughs.

In this episode of the AI in Education Podcast, hosts Ray and Dan kick off Series 12 with a powerful focus on students—how they learn, what they need, and how AI is shaping their academic journeys. Joining them is Nina Huntemann, Chief Academic Officer at Chegg, who shares revealing insights from Chegg.org’s 2025 Global Student Survey, which polled over 11,000 students across 15 countries. Nina dives into how students are turning to generative AI tools like ChatGPT more than their professors, not out of laziness but to fill gaps in clarity, access, and support. The trio explores the need for AI that’s student-specific - not just curriculum-aligned - and the importance of pedagogical design in educational tech. They also tackle key issues of equity, mental health, and the real-world skills students want for future workplaces. Links: Chegg.org Global Student Survey 2025 Anthropic Education Report: How University Students Use Claude  

New Series Alert - all about students In the kickoff episode of Series 12, Dan and Ray set the stage for a deep dive into AI from the student's perspective. Why are students confused about AI? How are they actually using it - and how should they be using it? The hosts explore the idea that AI can act as a tutor, a teacher, or a shortcut (a "cheater") and reflect on how this plays out in real classrooms and learning experiences. They also caught up on plenty of news this week - transdisciplinary learning models, new AI education policies from countries like China and the UAE, and how major tech players like Microsoft and Google are adapting their tools for younger learners. The episode also highlights a new meta-analysis on ChatGPT’s effect on student learning. UAE AI Curriculum Changes China AI Curriculum Changes Microsoft's new announcement on Microsoft 365 Copilot for students 13+ The meta analysis paper is The effect of ChatGPT on students’ learning performance, learning perception, and higher-order thinking: insights from a meta-analysis Finally, there's two things we ask you, the listener, for in this episode: If you haven't already, pop into your podcast app and give us a rating and review Help shape this season by connecting the podcast with students and researchers who can share insights into real-life student experiences with AI Have feedback or want to get involved? Email us at hosts@aipodcast.education

In this special solo-hosted episode, Ray is joined by Dr. Mike Seymour from the University of Sydney, recorded live at the 2025 AI in Higher Education Symposium. You can find Mike through LinkedIn and the University of Sydney Mike shares captivating insights from his work in digital humans - lifelike AI avatars that can support learning, healthcare, and emotional wellbeing. From using VR to train veterinary students with virtual sheep, to exploring how emotionally intelligent digital tutors can transform how students ask questions, this episode dives deep into the practical, human-centered future of AI. Mike draws on his background in Hollywood visual effects and his current research to make a compelling case: AI isn't a single tool - it's a system, a landscape, a way to augment and extend human capability. The conversation ranges from the ethics of AI in healthcare to using AI for dubbing films, always returning to a central theme: how technology can support, not replace, people. And when you've listened to this podcast, jump across to Mike's two podcasts - the fxpodcast and thevfxshow - which both take you on a journey to Hollywood and visual effects There are so many resources that you can read to dive into this story further: Mike's fxguide25 website Motus Lab - researching AI Digital Humans Mike's portfolio on Vimeo Look at the timestamps on the videos - amazing videos from 5 years ago that we can now do in consumer apps, like this Mike vs Mike Test and the Pinscreen Test video - amazing that it's gone from bleeding edge to available in everyday consumer apps in half a decade! Whether you're an educator, technologist, or just curious about the future, this episode is packed with ideas that will stick with you.  

In this episode of the AI in Education Podcast, Ray and Dan return from a short break with a packed roundup of AI developments across education and beyond. They discuss the online launch of the AEIOU interdisciplinary research hub that Dan attended, explore the promise and pitfalls of prompt engineering—including the idea of the “Uber prompt”—and share first impressions of the OpenAI Academy. Ray unpacks misleading headlines about Bill Gates “replacing teachers” with AI and instead spotlights the real message about AI tutors. They also dive into the 2027 AI forecast report, the emerging impact of the EU AI Act, and Microsoft's latest Work Trend Index, which introduces the idea of "agent bosses" in the AI-driven workplace. And then round off with Ben Williamson’s list of AI fails in education and a startling story of an AI radio presenter nobody realised was fake. Here's all the links so you too can fall down the AI news rabbithole 😊 AI in Education at Oxford University interdisciplinary research hub  https://aieou.web.ox.ac.uk/  OpenAI Academy https://academy.openai.com/home  Introduction to ChatGPT Edu: Your AI-Powered Academic Companion https://academy.openai.com/home/videos/introduction-to-chatgpt-edu-2025-03-20  AI for Academic Success: Research, Writing, and Studying Made Easier https://academy.openai.com/home/videos/ai-for-academic-success-research-writing-and-studying-made-easier-2025-03-20  Mastering Prompts: The Key to Getting What You Need from ChatGPT https://academy.openai.com/home/videos/mastering-prompts-the-key-to-getting-what-you-need-from-chatgptmastering-prompts-the-key-to-getting-what-you-need-from-chatgpt-2025-03-20  AI 2027 Forecast Report  https://ai-2027.com/  2025 EDUCAUSE Students and Technology Report: Shaping the Future of Higher Education Through Technology, Flexibility, and Well-Being https://library.educause.edu/resources/2025/4/2025-educause-students-and-technology-report  Melbourne & KPMG AI Sentiment Survey https://kpmg.com/au/en/home/insights/2025/04/trust-in-ai-global-insights-2025.html  https://www.innovationaus.com/australians-the-most-pessimistic-in-the-world-on-ai/  Microsoft Work Trend Index 2025 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/2025-the-year-the-frontier-firm-is-born  Ben Williamson’s AI Fails in Education on LinkedIn This links to all the individual stories, so head to Ben's story, give it a like, and then click through to the warnings from the stories! https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ben-williamson-7a501b329_top-ai-in-education-fails-so-far-millions-activity-7318038426270806016-pIzp  Australian Radio Network digitises diversity with an artificially generated Asian female presenter https://www.startupdaily.net/topic/artificial-intelligence-machine-learning/eye-thy-with-my-ai-australian-radio-network-digitises-diversity-with-an-artificially-generated-asian-female-presenter 

In this engaging discussion, Minh Huynh, a key figure from the University of Sydney Education Innovation team, shares her journey from student to leader in AI integration for biology courses. Cory Dal Ponte, a learning designer and PhD researcher from the University of Melbourne, introduces innovative GPT-powered tools enhancing AI literacy. They explore the transformative role of learning designers in education, the blend of trust and collaboration necessary for AI adoption, and the exciting possibilities AI brings to course design and learner engagement.

This week, Dan and Ray dive into a whirlwind of AI news shaking up the education world. From $40K private schools with AI tutors to universities reporting chatbot-driven grade boosts, they unpack what’s hype and what’s happening. Plus, they explore the ethics of AI image generation, energy use in data centers, and whether GPT-4.5 is now officially more human than human. News Alpha School - AI school in Texas News report: https://www.foxnews.com/media/texas-private-schools-use-ai-tutor-rockets-student-test-scores-top-2-country https://alpha.school/ Macquarie University students’ exam scores up by nearly 10 per cent thanks to new AI-powered chatbotMicrosoft case study: https://news.microsoft.com/source/asia/2025/03/24/macquarie-university-students-exam-scores-up-by-nearly-10-per-cent-thanks-to-new-ai-powered-chatbot/ Building an AI-Enabled Workforce: Impacts for Finance, Technology and Business Education and Training  https://www.futureskillsorganisation.com.au/building-an-ai-enabled-workforce-impacts-for-finance-technology-and-business-education-and-training The Future of Jobs Report 2025 from World Economic Forum  https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/digest/ OpenAI Academy https://academy.openai.com  Anthropic launched Claude for Education https://www.anthropic.com/news/introducing-claude-for-education  Open AI image generation announcement https://openai.com/index/introducing-4o-image-generation/    Report: Australia’s renewables can power AI and slash energy costs https://www.innovationaus.com/australias-renewables-can-power-ai-and-slash-energy-costs/  UTS Transdisciplinary Innovation course https://www.uts.edu.au/for-students/transdisciplinary-innovation  Research The Cybernetic Teammate: A Field Experiment on Generative AI Reshaping Teamwork and Expertise https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5188231  Large Language Models Pass the Turing Test https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.23674  News report: https://futurism.com/ai-model-turing-test 

Yet again, Dan and Ray are the podcast hosts, but Ray’s AI digital twin introduces the episode! This week's guests are: Lee Barrett – Prompt Engineer and AI Advocate at CEnet. Prem Radhakrishnan – AI Technical Manager at CEnet. This episode is a two-level deep dive into the development and deployment of CEchat, an AI-powered chatbot designed to reduce teacher workload and enhance student learning across Catholic schools in Australia. Part 1 of the episode covers the vision, pedagogy, and implementation strategy with both Lee and Prem. Part 2 is a more technical discussion between Dan and Prem, covering codebase customisation, infrastructure, scale, security, and integration. CEchat is an extended school-level implementation of Cogniti, the multi-award-winning open source chatbot from The University of Sydney. We interviewed Danny Liu about the project in this episode: https://aipodcast.education/the-university-of-sydneys-cogniti-ai-bot  They also discussed the Rome Call for AI Ethics, which you'll find here: https://www.romecall.org/  

News Stories Covered in the Episode AI Typing Like a Human? – Graham Clay’s LinkedIn post on ChatGPT Operator mimicking human keystrokes https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7292163775963557888/ The Vatican on AI Ethics – “Antiqua et Nova” report on AI, human intelligence, and ethics in education Sacerdotus: Vatican's New Document on AI: Ethical Guidelines and Human Responsibility Australian Government’s AI Study – Treasury report on Microsoft 365 Copilot, estimating it pays for itself if it saves 13 minutes per week Treasury M365 Copilot review estimates 13-minute efficiency gain needed to justify licence cost - Software - iTnews California State University & AI – Providing 500,000 stuents access to ChatGPT Edu https://openai.com/index/openai-and-the-csu-system/ Estonia’s AI Strategy – National AI policy giving all students access to AI tutors https://openai.com/index/estonia-schools-and-chatgpt/ Australia’s New National AI Centre Director – ex-podcast co-host Lee Hicken appointed to lead the centre. For those keeping count, that's the second of the podcast hosts that's now at NAIC, with current hosts Dan & Ray still waiting for the call 😂 https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7306940399086903296/ Manus AI Release – A new AI system focused on reasoning and conversation McKay Wrigley's X post Research Papers Discussed "From chalkboards to chatbots: Transforming learning in Nigeria, one prompt at a time" – World Bank blog on AI tutoring in Nigeria, claiming two years of learning gains in six weeks. https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/education/From-chalkboards-to-chatbots-Transforming-learning-in-Nigeria   We discussed Ethan Mollick's LinkedIn post focusing on the multiple controlled experiments showing that students can be helped or harmed based on how they use AI “AI Meets the Classroom: When Does ChatGPT Harm Learning?” – Study on ChatGPT’s impact on learning; found that using AI without explanations led to weaker long-term retention. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.09047v1 “Generative AI Can Help Learning” – AI tutors improve test results but can hinder deeper learning if students rely too much on direct answers https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4895486 “Effective and Scalable Math Support: Experimental  Evidence on the Impact of an AI- Math Tutor in Ghana” – AI tutor via WhatsApp in Ghana increased learning by the equivalent of one extra school year at $5 per student https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2402/2402.09809.pdf “Generative AI in higher education: A global perspective of institutional adoption policies and guidelines” – Study on university AI policies worldwide; most encourage AI use but lack clarity on inclusivity and transparency https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666920X24001516