Friction Required: How will a world transformed by emerging technologies like AI reshape the world? Sean Leahy,Andrew Maynard and special guest Punya Mishra cut through the hype to reveal the creative tension, hidden risks, and big-picture futures for AI-powered, human-centered education. How can the power of AI be harnessed without losing the soul of learning?
Friction Required: Re-imagining Learning in an AI World
Generative AI burst onto campuses promising personalized tutoring, instant lesson plans, and anytime feedback. Yet beneath the buzz lies a more provocative question: What, exactly, makes education worth the effort once answers are a prompt away? In this week’s Modem Futura, hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard sit down with educator-innovatorDr. Punya Mishra to look past the shiny tools and into the messy, human heart of learning.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3ZDH8vg
📺 Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura
Over an energetic hour they explore why purposeful “friction”—the struggle, inquiry, and face-to-face negotiation of meaning—is still essential. Punya and Sean draw on John Dewey’s four impulses—Inquiry, Communication, Construction, Expression—as a compass for designing AI-infused classrooms that amplify (rather than automate) these deep-learning moments. The trio swap stories of chatbots that spark creativity, debate whether banning tools curbs cheating or curiosity, and ask whether transparency beats top-down rules when it comes to academic integrity.
But the conversation zooms further out. What happens when large language models become persuasive co-teachers? Could Universal Basic Income turn learning into a lifelong pursuit instead of a credentialing race? And might universities act as society’s “flywheel”—a deliberate drag that buys time to think before technology rewrites the rules? The answers aren’t neat, yet they underscore a shared conviction: the future of education must be AI-powered and human-centered.
Key Takeaways
Friction is a feature, not a bug. Struggle fosters agency, resilience, and creativity—qualities that instant answers risk eroding.
Design for Dewey’s impulses. Use AI to scaffold inquiry, amplify student expression, and make thinking visible, not to short-circuit it.
Radical transparency > blanket bans. Open dialog about capabilities, limitations, and ethics beats whack-a-mole policies.
Cheating vs. caring. Focus on cultivating authentic motivation; surveillance tech alone can’t fix a trust gap.
Universities as sandboxes and speed-bumps. Higher ed can prototype responsible uses and slow premature adoption that harms society.
Whether you’re an instructor drafting next semester’s syllabus, a student exploring new creative tools, or a policymaker worried about the automation of learning, this episode offers frameworks—and questions—to keep humans at the center of the AI revolution.
🎧 Ready for the full conversation? Click below to listen or watch, then let us know how you’re embracing (or resisting) AI in your own learning spaces. And if the discussion sparks ideas, consider sharing this newsletter with a colleague—friction loves company!
If you’d like to dive deeper, jump into the link and listen to the podcast or watch the YouTube video. Join us as we explore the forces shaping our collective future and the urgent need to keep human values at the heart of innovation.
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🎧 Podcast: https://apple.co/3ZDH8vg
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura
