My Robot Teacher

01/22/2026

What happens to science education when ChatGPT can generate a fluent, plausible-sounding answer for almost anything—instantly?

In Episode 9 of My Robot Teacher, we sit down with UC Davis biophysicist Jon Sack to explore what "AI literacy" really means in science classrooms. Spoiler: it's not just about avoiding plagiarism.

Jon argues that the core of scientific thinking isn't getting answers—it's learning to "kill your darlings" and stay curious anyway. It's tolerating disconfirmation. It's resisting the dopamine hit of plausible certainty that LLMs deliver on demand.

We dig into:
→ Why resilience is the method, not just a soft skill
→ How to redesign assessments so students can't outsource the thinking
→ What AlphaFold teaches us about cheap hypotheses and expensive verification
→ The big question: if we're co-evolving with AI, how do we keep student agency intact?

Whether you teach science, work in higher ed, or just want to understand how AI is reshaping learning—this one's for you.

🎧 Listen now:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep09-resilience-over-right-answers-rethinking-science/id1818032413?i=1000746228976
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Or5PGJd9Pc7CJzeBK11hr?si=baSCEdIKTCGUHSkrvDmwvA
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ1Cprh2TEQ

Science education after ChatGPT: what happens when students can outsource the thinking, and still turn in something that looks right? In this episode of My R...

12/14/2025

🎧 New Episode: How to Teach AI (Not Just Use It)
What would AI literacy look like if we taught it the way UC Berkeley teaches data science—hands-on, interdisciplinary, and open?
In this episode, we talk with Eric Van Dusen from Berkeley's College of Computing, Data Science, and Society about:
📊 How Data 8 became Berkeley's most popular course (and why it's expanding across California)
🔧 Why Small Language Models let students actually "touch the model" in ways ChatGPT can't
🏛️ What public universities need to build real AI education infrastructure
🎓 Why most faculty haven't redesigned their courses yet—and what would help
Whether you're an educator wondering how to adapt, or just curious about what AI education should look like, this one's worth your time.
Listen now:
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5iMoMUn2WJma7uMfnzY0LR
🍎 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep08-how-to-teach-ai-not-just-use-it-with-uc-berkeleys/id1818032413?i=1000740864269
📺 YouTube: https://youtu.be/chljAbOBFsc

What would it look like to teach AI literacy the way UC Berkeley teaches data science? hands-on, interdisciplinary, and open? In this episode of My Robot Tea...

11/13/2025

New episode out now! We talk with Jason Goldman - co-host of Escape Hatch (formerly DunePod), early Twitter employee, and former Chief Digital Officer at the White House - about how films and pop culture quietly script how we think about AI.

Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep07-shaping-the-ai-narrative-in-higher-education-sci/id1818032413?i=1000736620806

10/25/2025

We’re honored to share our conversation with Dr. Safiya Noble, whose groundbreaking book Algorithms of Oppression fundamentally changed how we understand technology, bias, and power.

🎧Listen now:

10/09/2025

In our newest episode, Madison van Doren, AI Research and Strategy Manager at Appen, takes us inside the AI safety process. Listen to learn more about how developers stress-test large language models to find and fix harmful outputs.

Podcast Episode · My Robot Teacher · 10/09/2025 · 39m

09/04/2025

Concerned that ChatGPT might flatten student voice or make shortcuts too easy? In the latest My Robot Teacher episode, Carl Whithaus from and Aparna Sinha from ) discuss the PAIRR (Peer & AI Review + Reflection) project, which treats AI as one feedback source among many and puts students in the role of critics, not passive users. Worth a listen for anyone rethinking writing pedagogy in the age of AI. 🎧 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep04-a-new-hope-for-ai-in-college-writing/id1818032413?i=1000725014940

08/14/2025

🚨 New episode! Available on all the platforms, linked here:
https://calearninglab.org/myrobotteacher/mrt-ep3/

Several hot takes in this one... IT'S A SPICY MEATBALL. Can you handle it?!! #? #@~!

Please leave comments and reviews and things.

What happens when AI forces us to confront what’s broken about education? In this eye-opening conversation, Linguistics professor Pranav Anand (UC Santa Cruz) and English & Ethnic Studies professor Chesa Caparas (De Anza College) join Sarah and Taiyo, and argue that the panic over student “cheat...

07/09/2025

🚨 New episode! https://youtu.be/NFKAUv7zxwo
What becomes newly possible (and newly questionable) when thinking is distributed across humans and machines?
🎧 My Robot Teacher Episode 2: “Higher Education in the Age of AI”

AI is changing how we teach, write, and work together, but at what cost? In Episode 2 of “My Robot Teacher,” co-hosts Taiyo Inoue and Sarah Senk ask: what do...

07/01/2025

What happens when large language models meet public education?
We’re faculty. We recorded the fallout.
🎧 My Robot Teacher — Watch Episode 1 → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2TaycoMHAQ

What happens when AI crashes into the classroom?When ChatGPT rolled out across the California State University system, some professors slammed the brakes. Ot...