Summary: Welcome to episode 285 (“Sydney is Scary”) of the EdTech Situation Room from March 1, 2023, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer@mastodon.cloud) discussed the latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI), tech corrections, Google and Apple news, privacy, social media, hardware news, media literacy, and geeks of the week. One significant topic of discussion was OpenAI's announcement of an API for ChatGPT and Whisper Speech to Text Tech. The hosts noted that this development could result in a host of new tools that utilize the power of the OpenAI platform and ChatGPT, enabling developers to create new and innovative solutions. They also cautioned against blindly accepting the information generated by AI tools and suggested that users fact-check the information they receive. The hosts also discussed the potential impact of ChatGPT on education, specifically on essay writing, assessment, and college admissions. They noted that ChatGPT's capabilities pose significant challenges to traditional essay writing and assessment methods and that its ability to generate convincing responses could potentially disrupt the college admissions process. Another topic discussed on the show was Facebook's new fee for verification. The hosts compared this fee to a protection fee and noted that while they would not pay to have a checkmark next to their name on social media platforms, some users might pay the fee to avoid having their data traded. Overall, the hosts emphasized the importance of experimenting with AI tools and sharing the results with the community. They also urged caution when using such tools and stressed the need to fact-check the information they generate. The show provided valuable insights into the latest developments in education technology and their potential impact on the future of education. Geeks of the Week included Camel - Camel - Camel, Durable AI website generator and "The Last Soviet" podcast. AI Use Disclosure: ChatGPT was used to summarize and generate the topics for this show description. Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 9 pm Eastern / 8 pm Central / 7 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. Stay savvy and safe!
