Educator’s Notebook #524 (June 8, 2026)
INTRODUCTION
Summer Break, The Pope, The University of Chicago, and More
Happy summer, all!
Look for headlines in the introduction to this issue:
Happy Summer Break (for me, too)!
It’s been an excellent spring, and I have a lot cooking this summer, so I’ll be taking a break from the newsletter for the summer, probably picking up in late August… or sooner if inspiration strikes. Until then, may your summer be full of excellent reading. But before I go, there’s a lot cooking in this issue.
The Pope Weighs in on AI
The Pope has written an encyclical on artificial intelligence. What’s an encyclical? It’s an extended essay to help the Catholic church (or those interested) navigate a particular human, theological, social, cultural moment. It isn’t considered scripture, but it is considered an interpretation of an important human moment. So why feature it? An encyclical on AI means that the topic has risen to the level of social significance that it impacts the meaning and purpose we find in our lives, how we pursue work, and what all this means for our spiritual selves. That it is coming from such a significant global religious leader suggests all of us — regardless of one’s faith — may want to pay attention to it.
So the big question: what does the encyclical say?
What’s first notable is that it takes a balanced view of the present situation, a view that some people have already appropriated for their own purposes and others have found insufficiently extreme. Some people have mis-represented the encyclical as a “holy war on AI.” Others have mourned that it isn’t a holy war against AI, but should be. Instead, it is in the middle. What it actually does is: represent the risks of today’s technology, articulate the Catholic perspective on the richness of the human experience, acknowledge the pervasiveness of technology in our society without judging that pervasiveness, and entreat people to cautiously explore this technological moment, but only while deepening our commitment to what makes us human. In all these ways, it is a wise document (as one hopes to find, coming from a Pope), even if it will disappoint both the boosters and doomers.
If there’s something missing in it, from my perspective, it’s a greater acknowledgment of the rise of AI companions. These, as regular readers of the newsletter will note, are what I imagine pose the greatest risks to our experiences as humans, especially as they extend beyond simple companionship and into the roles of friend, counselor, and spiritual guide. AI companions — technologies that we turn to to help us understand ourselves and our position in the world — are growing rapidly, and most greatly risk reducing our agency as humans because of how subtly they work on our psyches.
But, AI companions do receive oblique reference in paragraph 100, and one of the main themes of the text is that we should recognize what makes us human, hallow those traits, and engage cautiously with technology that compromises those qualities in us.
It closes with four emphatic invitations: Let us remain faithful to the truth… Let us invest in education, beginning with ourselves… Let us cultivate relationships… Let us love justice and peace.
Those sound pretty good to me. Find a link to the whole encyclical in the AI section.
The University of Chicago goes all in on AI
Also in this issue, the president of the University of Chicago announces a bold stance on AI, committing to providing Claude accounts “for all academics and staff starting in July, and for all students before the fall term.” The letter includes what I find to be a useful statement of responsibility: “The University has a duty of care to ensure that the education offered to you is responsive to these technological developments by teaching you how to think with machines, how to think without them, and how to think about them.” The questions this poses to me, as we look to our responsibilities across the K-16 spectrum is: who is responsible for each of these three parts, and at what developmental stages. (Some of this we explore in chapter 5 of Irreplaceable.)
…And more
There’s much more in this issue as well, from Harvard’s approach to addressing grade inflation (draconian, I think, but we’ll see how it plays out), to a reflection in Res Obscura on writing in an age of AI, to teacher surveys and a further collection of articles.
These and more, enjoy!
Peter
PS. Last, I’m super proud of a recent conversation with Jenn David-Lang from the Main Idea, who had this to say in the podcast interview about Irreplaceable:
“Seems these days like everyone is rushing to write books and articles about AI, so… I opened the book with skepticism, and I have to say I was deeply impressed. Clearly, these are two authors who are steeped in the field of education first, and their interest and knowledge and passion about teaching and learning is really primary throughout this book. I would read whole sections of the book and have whole new ideas about teaching and learning and then say, wait a minute, they haven’t even mentioned AI in a little while. So I’m excited to talk about this book.”
Find Irreplaceable: How AI Changes Everything (and Nothing) in Teaching and Learning on Amazon and at the publisher Solution Tree.
Browse and search over 16,000 curated articles from past issues online:
FEATURED
Harvard Limits The Number Of A’s It Will Allow
“The new policy will limit A’s to 20 percent of the letter grades awarded in a course, with an allowance for as many as four additional A’s. Faculty voted on the proposal this month, and the results were announced Wednesday.”
“What Is Happening To Writing?” - On Writing In An AI Era
“I have about 50 ideas sitting in my Substack drafts folder. It is tantalizing to imagine that I could simply open a Claude Code terminal window, direct it to these drafts, and tell it to output a year’s worth of Res Obscura posts. This, of course, is not a hypothetical but simply what a a lot of people are doing right now. But if you do that, what is the point? What was I working toward when I was 10, or 20? The work is, itself, the point.”
ADMISSIONS
ADOLESCENCE
ARTS
ASSESSMENT
ATHLETICS
HIGHER ED
“Spelman College Names an AI Expert As Its New President”
On Deep Springs, That Cattle Ranch College
HUMANITIES
“15 Graduation Gifts For English Majors”
“We Are Sliding Back To The Middle Ages”
“When events like that one happen often enough, people lose confidence in institutional authority. There goes “the science,” or “the church,” or “the official story.” Demonology, astrology or conspiracy theories about satanic pedophile cabals ruling the world fill the gap. The result of all of those conditions is that life has begun to feel governed by forces beyond our understanding, by knowledge that is unverifiable and by authority that is distant and suspect. It is, in a word, beginning to feel medieval.”
PD
READING/WRITING
“We Shouldn’t Feel Guilty For Not Being Extremely Well Read”
“The Man Who Read One Book Every Two Days”
“I never imagined reading books and turning them into movies was a job.”
STEM
TECH
VISUAL DESIGN
We Have Stunning Power To Create New Visual Designs With AI
“Historically, that kind of granular control was locked away for developers, creative coders, and 3D artists. Over time the internet has started accumulating dithering tools which range from weak to powerful but always limit you to their rigid setups. That limit is gone. I can make whatever shape I want and use it as a pixel. I have full control over midtones, colours, details, grid space, and sizes. It processes both pictures and videos, and I even added webcam support to apply the effects live. All in a single HTML file.”
WORKPLACE
GENERAL
Stephen Colbert And The Late Show Close In High Style
What Does The End Of The Late Show Signal About Institutions Today?
A.I. Update
A.I. UPDATE
Teacher use cases, a closer look at the environmental cost of AI, and more,
In addition to the two features in this issue (highlighted above), find the story of Khan Academy’s experience with OpenAI and the development of Khanmigo. It’s good reporting on 1) how technology and education come to work together, 2) what works, and 3) what doesn’t. Also find some excellent data on how teachers are using AI, several reflections on the environmental impact of AI, and others.
Among the many posts this week, Dr. Philippa Hardman’s reflection on AI tutors offers much to chew on, including a helpful side by side chart of ways to think about AI for work differently from AI for learning. See below.
These and much more, enjoy!
Peter
How is using AI for work different from using AI for learning? See the post by Dr. Philippa Hardman for more.
TECH/AI: FEATURED
UChicago Commits Deeply To Use Of AI
“The University has a duty of care to ensure that the education offered to you is responsive to these technological developments by teaching you how to think with machines, how to think without them, and how to think about them… As a next step in the University of Chicago’s overall approach to artificial intelligence (AI), the University is partnering with Anthropic to provide Claude Enterprise for all academics and staff starting in July, and for all students before the fall term. Claude Chat, Cowork, and Code will be made available to the campus community. Spanning the domains of research, education, and operations: these are powerful tools that are being made available to help individuals find ways to improve our pursuit of knowledge, our commitment to teaching students how to think independently, and the ability of our staff to support this work efficiently. Access will be granted to the newest versions of Anthropic’s tools—for those who choose to use them—with improved integration with university resources and tools and more data protection than is available with private accounts.”
The Pope Circulates An Encyclical On AI and Humanity
“In recent years, it has become increasingly evident how rapidly and profoundly digitalization, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are transforming our world. Technology should not be considered, in itself, as a force antagonistic to humanity. On the contrary, it has formed part of our history since the beginning as “a profoundly human reality, linked to the autonomy and freedom of man.” [5] Over the centuries, technological development has significantly improved the living conditions of humanity. At the same time, each phase of progress has also revealed the ambiguity of tools that can cause harm when not oriented toward the good. Today, however, we find ourselves facing a new situation. The power and prevalence of emerging technologies are interwoven into the fabric of daily life, shaping decision-making processes and deeply affecting the collective imagination: “Never has humanity had such power over itself.” [6] New technologies open up a horizon extending in directions that are imaginable but not yet fully predictable. This complicates the assessment of their potential impact and the long-term effects they may have on both the dignity of individuals and the common good.”
TECH/AI: EDUCATION
An Excellent Reading List On AI And Education
How AI Is Changing Teacher Workflows
AI Tutors: On AI For Work Vs AI For Learning
What Can Be Learned From Khan Academy’s Experience With OpenAI?
“A year after the release, Mr. Khan was hardly euphoric. “We need to be realistic that there’s no simple answer for student engagement,” he told me. Even as Khan Academy touts a 731 percent increase in Khanmigo’s reach year over year, Ms. DiCerbo has been bracing. “So far I am not seeing the revolution in education,” she said. Khanmigo remains Khan Academy’s major A.I. commitment, but the organization has also begun developing other products, including Writing Coach, a tool that helps students outline, draft and revise essays, to complement its core offerings from before the A.I. era.”
TECH/AI: ETHICS AND RISK
What Is The Real Environmental Cost Of AI?
Book About Truth And AI Contains Numerous AI Generated Errors.
Employers Expect To Hire More Entry-Level Roles B/C Of AI
Is Human Verification Necessary For Responsible AI Use?
“a deeper dive reveals that panelists define verification far more expansively than the provocation implies. Rather than treating it as a narrow, output-by-output check, they describe verification as the work of applying human judgment across an AI system’s life cycle, interpreting context, designing tests, auditing workflows, setting thresholds, weighing when AI should not be relied on at all, and carrying the accountability that machines cannot. Understood this way, verification is not a final checkpoint but the connective tissue of responsible AI, encompassing the design, oversight, and accountability that organizations need to scale alongside the systems themselves.”
What Is The Energy Footprint of AI Queries And Use?
The Jevons Paradox — And AI Job Growth