An Optimist’s Take on AI and the Future of Learning (with Sébastien Martin)

As AI tools spread through classrooms, many educators see a “cheating factory.” Kellogg Professor Sébastien Martin sees things differently: as a chance to reinvent how and what we teach. In his operations management class, students trade PDFs for lifelike chatbots, log conversations with Socratic AI tutors, and use AI to explore the kinds of social and political dynamics that students normally have to learn on the job. But Martin also grapples with harder questions: What about public schools with fewer resources? When should kids use AI at all? And how can students stay hopeful and true to their own interests in a wildly uncertain future? (Part 1/2 in our back-to-school series.) Life, Automated is a production of the Ryan Institute on Complexity, at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. The host is Jess Love, senior director. Distributed by KQED Producer: Jesse Dukes Music: Steven Jackson Associate Producer: Stacia Sliger Additional Production: Nathan Ray Recording: George Christensen and Will Feeney Promotional help from Ananya Mallapragada and Charlotte Simmons.