Pat Yongpradit on AI literacy and computer science education

What does AI literacy mean for students and their teachers? Code.org Chief Academic Officer Pat Yongpradit—himself a former middle school computer science teacher—joins Reid and Aria for the first-ever live-taping of Possible, recorded at the ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego. 

In this episode, they discuss why school-wide bans on AI are a terrible idea and what “always be learning” refers to in an age of AI. Plus, Pat unveils, for the first time publicly, Code.org’s newest tool for teachers: an AI assistant that helps computer science teachers grade assignments. 

Special thanks to Will Cullen, Colin Faul, Bella Willis, Braeden Rutherford, Whitney Kim, Samantha Urban Tarrant, Hadi Partovi, Debra Quazzo and Little Monster Media Company.

For more info on the podcast and transcripts of all the episodes, visit https://www.possible.fm/podcast/ 

Topics: 
2:19 - Hellos and intros
2:50 - Pat’s social mission video game homework 
4:34 - Pat’s origins with teaching and computer science
6:33 - Making Microsoft Copilot as accessible as possible Code.org’s mission 
8:08 - Learning concept tools for real world applications for 
9:45 - What do young people need to know about AI literacy work
11:58 - What Pat is excited about with generative AI and the future 
13:40 - What are the guardrails for the classroom with AI
16:45 - How does AI enhance teaching and learning
21:31 - Break 
22:04 - Using Devin as a lens into the future 
24:09 - Multidisciplinary ethics around coding 
28:45 - What project would Aria do for Do Something through the lens of AI 
34:55 - What you are most worried about when it comes to AI and education 
39:09 - Code.org secret sauce and future 
41:10 - Rapid-fire questions
 

Select mentions: 
Cointelligence by Ethan Mollick

TeachAI 

Stanford Accelerator for Learning

Amazon Echo skit from Saturday Night Live

Demo of the AI engineer Devin

Bologna Business School Commencement Speech

ASU+GSV Summit and AIR Show

Possible is an award-winning podcast that sketches out the brightest version of the future—and what it will take to get there. Most of all, it asks: what if, in the future, everything breaks humanity's way? Tune in for grounded and speculative takes on how technology—and, in particular, AI—is inspiring change and transforming the future. Hosted by Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger, each episode features an interview with an ambitious builder or deep thinker on a topic, from art to geopolitics and from healthcare to education. These conversations also showcase another kind of guest: AI. Whether it's Inflection’s Pi, OpenAI’s ChatGPT or other AI tools, each episode will use AI to enhance and advance our discussion about what humanity could possibly get right if we leverage technology—and our collective effort—effectively.