Shownotes Transcript
Interview with Amanda Bakerstaff, CEO of AI for Education https://www.aiforeducation.io https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-bickerstaff-edu/
Introduction
- Amanda went to Emory University and then became a teacher in the Bronx, which was a highly formative experience that shaped her perspective on equity and access in education.
Her Career Path
- She later became a CEO of an edtech company in Australia during the pandemic, but ended up leaving due to burnout.
- After using ChatGPT for the first time in March 2022 to easily create a rubric, she realized the potential of AI to transform education but also the lack of support to properly implement it. This led her to start AI for Education.
AI for Education
- Focused on the responsible adoption of AI in education through an ethical, effective and equitable lens.
- Offers free resources like a prompt library with over 100 prompts to make it easy for teachers to start using AI. Also provides paid consulting and training services.
- Has become a key voice in policy discussions and guidance around AI in education.
Equity and Access Considerations
- Amanda stresses that readiness to learn depends as much on external factors like healthcare and home environment as internal school factors.
- Calls for responsibility in adopting AI tools that currently lack reliability and oversight for use by students.
- Is excited by the potential for AI models that can run offline on low-bandwidth devices to increase access globally.
The Future
- Sees a need to balance hype around generative AI with existing deterministic AI that can provide more reliable, specialized functionality.
- Expects major advances in tooling and the use of AI to accelerate all technology development.
- More exploration needed on how AI will transform student learning.
Action Items
- Check out AI for Education's free resources on their website.
- Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn to stay updated.
- Have Amanda back on the show to discuss more on the student impact of AI.