{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Make It Mindful: An Education Podcast","title":"#76 AI Is an Experiment: \"Local Science\" and Tech Hype Cycles with The Homework Machine's Justin Reich","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/b9c6b5f5\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2790,"description":"Justin Reich (MIT) on “local science,” AI hype cycles, and why schools need to do less.\n\nJustin Reich returns to the podcast with an “applied historian” lens: not dismissing generative AI as just another hype cycle, but insisting we treat early classroom uses as experiments—because history says our first instincts about new tech in schools are often wrong.\nWe talk about what Reich learned while making the excellent podcast The Homework Machine (hundreds of teacher conversations, dozens of student interviews), why “policy” isn’t enough without social movements, and what educators can do right now while the research base lags behind practice. The throughline: experiment with humility, collect local evidence, share what you’re learning—and beware the trap of “efficiency” that just increases the amount of work schools try to do.\nA late pivot goes straight at the emotional core: if Justin had the power to “turn off” AI forever, would he? His answer is less about tools and more about what developing humans most need—time with their own thoughts, and time with each other.\nKey moments (approx.)\n00:00 — Back on the show + Seth’s “homework” assignment: The Homework Machine\n02:18 — “It is different… they’re all different”: tech revolutions and the education pattern that repeats\n06:47 — Tech won’t solve inequality; social movements change norms, politics, and resource distribution\n09:05 — The web literacy cautionary tale: 25 years of teaching the wrong methods\n11:19 — “Local science”: teach as experimentation, then look hard for evidence it helped\n15:11 — When there’s no historical control: talk to students, use “Looking at Student Work” protocols\n18:49 — Why “big science” takes so long—and why expert practice has to exist before we can teach it\n20:45 — The “copilot” problem: even elite engineers don’t yet know how to train novices well\n32:46 — What’s likely to happen: business incentives degrade “consumer” tools schools rely on\n35:06 — “Subtraction in Action”: schools are...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/aX0c3Zcu_BWgnhhPpU7UI3YNLxRjFjQabj8M1H8irwE/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9hZjhi/ZWY0ZTA5YTUxYjE1/YTlmY2NlYTQ3NDkz/ZDZlYS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}