Eric Nentrup
The Week in Review: EdSAFE & AI at SXSW EDU '23

It’s one thing to share a collection of AI headlines—it’s another to be centered in the eye of the storm as it was at SXSW EDU in Austin, Texas as this week. The EdSAFE team, members, and even leadership network fellows converged for the annual gathering to discuss issues the field faces. However, event planners were making decisions for speakers and their sessions long before OpenAI opened the floodgates for AI in the midstream. The impact of the past couple months was reflected in the program.
In the mix was our very own managing director, Beth Havinga, speaking to a standing-room only crowd about the EdSAFE mission to ensure equity in education and provide safe education environments as we consider how to implement emerging technologies in our practice. Many advisory board member were also proactive in their AI messaging and guidance. Digital Promise’s Jeremy Roschelle shared his thoughts on a panel with the US DOE’s Office of Education Technology Director, Kristina Ishmael about the general impact of emerging technology on education policy. Dr. Rose Luckin shared from her research and The Center for Democracy & Technology’s Elizabeth Laird shared about student privacy issues. Additionally, fellows Nneka McGee and Shannon Terry attended and supported EdSAFE while learning across the gamut to take ideas back to their daily work.
Additionally, we attended multiple AI-themed sessions presented by the likes of AEI's John Bailey, New Schools Venture Fund CEO Frances Messano, as well as Turnitin's Eric Wang. Across the sessions, whenever AI in general or Large Language Models were featured, the overall conversation seemed to be aligning with the same priorities for the education field as we learn to negotiate this paradigm shift.
Each of their sessions was near capacity because stakeholders are looking for guidance. And with your help and input, we can provide a framework that serves all. To that end, here are the pertinent stories elsewhere in the mainstream news organized by the four areas of concern in our acronym, S.A.F.E.
SAFETY:
From ELIZA to ChatGPT, our digital reflections show the dangers of AI - Vox
Hackers Can Turn Bing’s AI Chatbot Into a Convincing Scammer, Researchers Say
ACCOUNTABILITY:
Interview: How could AI be regulated without hobbling innovation?
AI tools like ChatGPT could play role in government – science minister | The Independent
UAE working on ‘GPT-powered AI tutors’ to transform education
Tel Aviv startup rolls out new advanced AI language model to rival OpenAI | The Times of Israel
FAIRNESS:
Generative AI ChatGPT Versus Those Infinite Typing Monkeys, No Contest Says AI Ethics And AI Law
Universal Speech Model (USM): State-of-the-art speech AI for 100+ languages – Google AI Blog
AI-powered Bing Chat gains three distinct personalities | Ars Technica
‘Organoid intelligence’ could create brain cell-led computers | CNN
EFFICACY:
How to Use Artificial Intelligence to Bolster Students’ Creativity
Microsoft says GPT-4 coming next week with video features - Neowin
Microsoft aims to reduce “tedious” business tasks with new AI tools | Ars Technica
Will ChatGPT Forever Change Education? – Center for Data Innovation
Microsoft unveils AI model that understands image content, solves visual puzzles | Ars Technica
Blender can now use AI to create images and effects from text descriptions | Engadget