Gen Z's AI Reality

In this news and research-packed episode, Ray and Dan dive deep into the AI highlights from EduTech 2025 in Sydney - reflecting on the vibe, standout presentations, and the surprisingly light AI presence on the expo floor. They unpack major news from the UK's Department for Education, OpenAI's model pricing shake-up, and raise serious red flags over Meta AI's privacy approach.
The duo also tackles the big questions educators face: is AI destroying the planet? Can we trust AI with student data? And what do students themselves think? Featuring insights from two key research pieces - Australia's "From Gen Z to Gen AI" and Jisc's UK-based "Student Perceptions of AI 2025" - this episode reveals how students are using AI, what they're worried about, and why institutions need to catch up.
Links:
UK Government's Policy Paper "Generative AI in Education"
OpenAI releases o3-pro (Model Release Notes) and slashes the cost of o3-pro for developers, compared to o1-pro
OpenAI forced to retain all conversation logs by the New York Times lawyers, and details of OpenAI's response
Meta.ai privacy approach - so far, only covered by Crikey
Energy/water usage of ChatGPT
In Sam Altman's blog he said "the average query uses about 0.34 watt-hours, about what an oven would use in a little over one second, or a high-efficiency lightbulb would use in a couple of minutes." (about the same as a Google search)
Dr Karen Boyd's excellent blog post we discussed: "Ethics & LLMs: Sustainability" which also contains the great comparison charts for electricity and water use for common activities.
Details on Karen's upcoming book, Amplify Good Work (drkarenboyd.com/book)
Research on students' AI attitudes and use
Dr Anna Denejkina's research "From Gen Z to GenAI: The impact, opportunities and challenges of Generative AI for young Australians"
JISC's research "Student Perceptions of AI 2025", from Sue Attewell