In this episode of ChatEDU An Earful of Ivy: AI and the Battle for Higher Ed Integrity, Matt and Liz open with an internet prank: an anonymous artist posted a real Monet, claimed it was AI generated, and watched critics bash the masterpiece as AI slop. The hosts then pivot to education, technology, and policy.

The Rundown

John R. Soash's three configurations for restricting student access to Gemini AI and Google Lens.

Dan Fitzpatrick on Google's pivot from passive chatbots to proactive AI agents.

Regional literary winners face scrutiny after their entries were flagged as AI-generated.

The federal law requiring platforms to remove nonconsensual student deepfakes within 48 hours, effective May 2026.

OpenAI and Google DeepMind use AI reasoning models to autonomously solve longstanding math problems.

Dr. Ethan Mollick compares the water and energy costs of computing breakthroughs to everyday resources like almonds and lawns.

Academics debate whether AI traffic light systems and the AI Assessment Scale are an enforcement illusion or a genuinely useful tool.

A 2026 pilot program delivers cloud workstations and premium tech subscriptions to public libraries in Utah and New Jersey.

Beneath the Surface

Matt and Liz examine how grade inflation and AI cheating fears are driving policy shifts at elite universities: device bans at Yale, a 20% A-grade cap at Harvard, an AI ban at UC Berkeley Law, and the end of Princeton's 133-year-old honor code. As a counterpoint, they feature CU Boulder physicists advocating collaborative, department-level experimentation that treats students as partners rather than imposing top-down bans.

The Bright Byte

Finland's Kemira and UK-based Cusp AI used generative AI to design over 5,000 new material structures to strip PFAS 'forever chemicals' from municipal drinking water.

Announcements

Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77

Seeing through the Machine – Teaching Bias as an Equity Practice in AI - Dr. Elizabeth Radday - https://tinyurl.com/4ybwkn7a

Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course - ⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠

Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum - ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠⁠

Address Screen Time concerns - ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠

Sponsors

Nectir. Welcome to the Classroom of the Future. https://www.nectir.io/

Links

Prankster Passes Off Real Monet Painting as AI-Generated, Chaos Ensues

https://tinyurl.com/mrab9ne3