Amanda Bickerstaff: The DAS Interview Series

Interview with Amanda Bakerstaff, CEO of AI for Education https://www.aiforeducation.io https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-bickerstaff-edu/ Introduction - Amanda went to Emory University and then became a teacher in the Bronx, which was a highly formative experience that shaped her perspective on equity and access in education. Her Career Path - She later became a CEO of an edtech company in Australia during the pandemic, but ended up leaving due to burnout. - After using ChatGPT for the first time in March 2022 to easily create a rubric, she realized the potential of AI to transform education but also the lack of support to properly implement it. This led her to start AI for Education. AI for Education - Focused on the responsible adoption of AI in education through an ethical, effective and equitable lens. - Offers free resources like a prompt library with over 100 prompts to make it easy for teachers to start using AI. Also provides paid consulting and training services. - Has become a key voice in policy discussions and guidance around AI in education. Equity and Access Considerations - Amanda stresses that readiness to learn depends as much on external factors like healthcare and home environment as internal school factors. - Calls for responsibility in adopting AI tools that currently lack reliability and oversight for use by students. - Is excited by the potential for AI models that can run offline on low-bandwidth devices to increase access globally. The Future - Sees a need to balance hype around generative AI with existing deterministic AI that can provide more reliable, specialized functionality. - Expects major advances in tooling and the use of AI to accelerate all technology development. - More exploration needed on how AI will transform student learning. Action Items - Check out AI for Education's free resources on their website. - Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn to stay updated. - Have Amanda back on the show to discuss more on the student impact of AI.