A new AI-powered school model is making waves

I think a lot of us parents are wondering/worrying if - and how - our schools should be adapting to prepare our kids for an AI future. And while there is a lot of talk and a lot of opinions, it doesn’t seem like too many schools are taking significant action - at least yet.

Introducing AI-powered Alpha Schools: there’s a private school franchise that is making waves with a compelling claim: their students are testing in the top 1% while only studying academics for 2 hours/day using a custom AI-powered personalized tutoring program that adapts to each child’s unique pace and learning style. For the rest of the day, students work on life skills, entrepreneurial and passion projects. It’s arguably still experimental but an intriguing model to pay attention to (if/once the cost comes down!). This week New York Magazine has an in-depth piece on Alpha school and the broader topic of “futureproofing” our kids that I found worth reading (including the comments, LOL).

We can no longer believe what we see

“Pics or it didn’t happen”: I hate to break it to you, but I don’t know that there’s such thing as photographic (or video) evidence anymore.

Some recent studies suggest that over 70% of images on social media are AI generated, and with shockingly realistic AI video generators like Google’s Veo 3 and Open AI’s Sora, it’s getting out of control pretty quick.

I mentioned the new Sora app in last week’s newsletter - in it’s first few days it was the Wild West, with people generating full episodes of South Park, Sponge Bob cooking up blue crystals, an ad for “Epstein’s Island of children’s toys” and so much more. They’ve since clamped down on a lot of this, but the point is: technology is now fully capable of deep faking anything or anyone.

Apps are now in ChatGPT

This week OpenAI announced that you can now chat with your favorite apps right in ChatGPT, starting with Zillow, Canva, Expedia, and more.

You can “summon” the app by naming it at the beginning of your prompt, and the first time you use one you’ll need to connect so you know what data may be shared with the app.

I’m not sure how useful/cool this will ultimately be but it could potentially shake up the need for browsers or mobile apps if you can do it all in a chat interface.

3 tips to make lasting memories with your kids 

I know the first thing we tell someone when they have a new baby is to appreciate the moments because the time by goes so fast. It truly does, and this is something I don’t take for granted. Someone shared a YouTube interview by a silicon valley investor, Todd Francis, who had, as a passion/side project, studied optimal ways to make lasting memories with our kids. It really resonated with me and the key insights have held true in my own family. And good news: its not about expensive vacations or spoiling your kids on holidays.

3 tips to make lasting memories with your kids (for both you and them):

1. Prioritize side-by-side time with each of your kids one-on-one: This isn't about time when you’re parenting or instructing - it's time spent on equal footing (building LEGOs together, going for a nature walk, or just chatting and listening to music). Experiencing something together without judgment is where the real connection happens.

2. Be deliberate about your use of time: our kids' schedules are packed. Instead of trying to be at every single event, practice, or game, consider trading one for some dedicated one-on-one time. What if you skipped one soccer game to go on a bike ride together instead? That focused time together is likely more cherished than just being a spectator on the sidelines.

3. Embrace unexpected moments and turn them into an adventure: like when it starts pouring rain on a camping trip or when you show up at soccer practice but it’s been cancelled. These instances can often turn into special moments of shared vulnerability, problem solving, and connection.

Capture and elevate Grandparent stories

Speaking of making memories: our parents and grandparents have lived such full and interesting lives, and they love to share stories about ‘the good ‘ol days.’ AI can be a wonderful tool to capture these stories and turn them into beautiful illustrated storybooks to share with our kids (hint: could make for a neat holiday gift).

There are a lot of different tools you can experiment with to try this out, but here’s a pretty simple work flow that should work really well:

1. Use an AI recording/transcription tool like otter.ai to interview your grandparent about one of their favorite memories.

2. Take the cleaned up transcript (otter.ai will do this for you automatically) and paste/attach it into gemini.google.com, prompting it with something like “Identify the core story and narrative arc discussed in this interview. Identify the key characters, settings, events, and emotions. Then, rewrite it into a delightful and entertaining short story. Enhance the descriptions using the context provided, organize it into paragraphs, and create a smooth narrative flow. Do not invent new facts or events or characters. Preserve the authentic voice and tone of the speaker."

3. Then in a new prompt in Gemini, ask it to “create a storybook using this exact transcript <insert story copy>” (you can describe the illustration style you’d like as well).

And voila, you’ll have a beautifully illustrated story that captures a precious memory. If you want to get really fancy, you can clone your grandparent’s voice in a tool like elevenlabs.io or similar and make an audiobook version with them narrating it.

Let AI handle your household hassles

Supercharge your abilities on the stuff that causes headaches: I think most of you are already doing this to some extent, but just a reminder that you now have a secret weapon in your pocket when dealing with confusing or time-consuming household stuff like optimizing your tax refund, identifying hidden benefits in your health insurance plan, or in my case this week, appealing your property tax assessment. 😂 

A couple tips:

1. ChatGPT, Gemini, and/or Claude all have “thinking” or “deep research” modes - make sure this is selected in their tool menus

2. Quality in = quality out. Be structured and detailed in your prompt, with as much context as you can provide. It will make a big difference. Here’s a tool that can help you improve your prompt

3. Be sure to attach relevant documents.

4. If it’s a very detailed or more complex task, it’s a good idea to set up a “project” (in ChatGPT or Claude) where you can keep all your documents, context, and chats separate from the noise of your main chats.

AI Band-Aids?

Engineers at UC Santa Cruz have developed an AI-powered smart bandage that speeds up wound healing by 25% compared to standard treatments. The wireless device uses a tiny built-in camera to monitor wounds every two hours, while its "AI physician" diagnoses healing stages and automatically delivers personalized treatments. The technology could potentially revolutionize care for serious, chronic, or surgical wounds. And stretch goal: save my family big bucks on fewer snoopy bandaids each year.