On This Week with EdSurge, two guests look past the classroom to find where artificial intelligence quietly adds up. One traces the cost of AI to the assignment page, the other to the electricity bill. Together they raise a question few schools have fully worked through, what an AI-first future actually costs, and who ends up paying for it.

Could Rethinking the Assignment Outsmart AI?

Michael Hernandez had spent years teaching educators how to redesign their assignments through his book, his workshops, and his conference sessions. He wanted to reach more teachers than he could ever sit with in person, so he decided to build something that could do some of that work for him. There was one problem. Michael had not written a line of code since high school, so he turned to a method called vibe coding, describing what he wanted in plain language and letting AI build it. What came out of that process, and what it taught him about the traits every assignment needs, is where the conversation starts.

What Is the Real Price Tag on School AI?

Mi Aniefuna took a different route into the AI conversation, one that starts far from the classroom. His reporting follows the technology back to the data centers that power it and the costs that come with them. Districts weighing an AI rollout are often thinking about curriculum and instruction. Mi wanted to know whether they were also thinking about the invoice, and what happens to a budget once the bill starts to grow with every use.

Listen to the episode:

Stories Mentioned in This Episode

I Used AI to Build AI-Resistant Assignments by Michael Hernandez

Can Schools Afford an AI-First Future? by Mi Aniefuna

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