In this 100th episode milestone of ChatEDU, Major Shift - Durable College Majors in 2026, Matt and Liz dive into a rapidly shifting landscape where AI drives government policy, corporate restructuring, and student behavior. The hosts also discuss a surreal exit interview between Anthropic and its retiring Opus 3 model.

The Rundown

Anthropic vs. DoD: Anthropic is labeled a national security risk after refusing unrestricted military use, while OpenAI moves in to secure classified government contracts.

Block’s AI Layoffs: Jack Dorsey cuts 4,000 jobs at Block, citing AI as the primary tool allowing for smaller, flatter, and more efficient teams.

The Einstein Agent: A controversial tool that autonomously logs into Canvas to watch lectures and submit work, sparking a major crisis in academic integrity.

Edia’s Creative Funding: An AI attendance platform in Albany County is being funded by revenue from school bus safety camera fines.

The Rhithm Project: A new strategy to reach 10 million people to combat relational displacement and keep human connection at the center of youth development.

Pew Teen Study: New data shows 54% of teens use AI for school, with 59% reporting that AI cheating is now a regular occurrence in their schools.

Beneath the Surface: The Major Shift

The hosts analyze a Federal Reserve Bank of New York study on the 2026 labor market. While engineering remains a top earner, Computer Science is seeing a hiring hangover, and high touch fields like Nursing and Special Education show the most stability.

The Bright Byte

Insights from the Stanford Education AI Summit highlight how AI is bridging the digital divide through ASL translation and scalable tutoring for low connectivity environments.

Announcements

Come join us! AI in Education: Spring 2026 Conference.

https://www.skills21.org/event-details/ai-in-education-spring-2026-conference

https://www.youtube.com/@ChatEDUEdAdvance

Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday

ASCD:⁠ ⁠https://tinyurl.com/bde652nn⁠⁠

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

Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/bdckf6zw

EdAdvance is offering a Middle and High School Student AI Literacy course — email chatedu@edadvance.org to bring it to your district. ⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠

Skills21’s FREE social media literacy course. Check it out here -⁠ ⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠

This episode is sponsored by The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing.⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://www.nextgenmfg.org⁠⁠

Links

Model deprecation commitments for Claude Opus 3

https://tinyurl.com/3d4wnuf8

The whole thing was a scam

https://tinyurl.com/yrt7wemj

What Jack Dorsey’s Block Layoffs Mean for the Job Market at Large

https://tinyurl.com/327mmdw7

AI reshaping JPMorgan Chase’s workforce as bank plans ‘huge redeployment’

https://tinyurl.com/7dwf95h5

Agentic AI Can Complete Whole Courses for Students. Now What?

https://tinyurl.com/5cjsp662

Edia Implementation and Reimbursement Plan

https://tinyurl.com/526nfjsk

Building Toward a Tipping Point

https://tinyurl.com/3bspztny

How Teens Use and View AI

https://tinyurl.com/2s429bdm

College majors that have the highest earning potential and lowest unemployment rates

https://tinyurl.com/yetn8wcn

Revenge of the English majors

https://tinyurl.com/58kvvjwr

2026 Stanford AI+Education Summit

https://tinyurl.com/yehj7enw

Fluttering Creations

https://www.flutteringcreations.com/