Recording from the Deep Freeze: Craig broadcasts from snow-covered north Louisiana (running on generator and Starlink!), where AI helped him MacGyver a propane tank solution involving ratchet straps, a plastic bucket, and a shop light. Welcome to the wild world of practical AI applications.

Featured Topics

Oboe.com: The Future of Self-Directed Learning?

Craig and Rob explore Oboe (oboe.com), a free AI-powered platform that creates customized courses on virtually any topic in minutes. Craig demonstrates by building a course on AI agents, and Rob becomes his first student. The hosts discuss:

How the platform auto-generates quizzes with reasonable multiple-choice options and helpful feedback
The potential to revolutionize textbook accessibility with low-cost or no-cost alternatives
Using Oboe to supplement existing textbooks (like adding blockchain content to their own textbook)
The limitations: shallow sourcing and need for instructor vetting
Credit to the AI and I podcast from Every.to (makers of Lex.page) for the discovery

Security First: The Moltbot Warning

Not all that glitters is AI gold. Rob raises important concerns about new tools like Moltbot that can automate processes but may introduce security vulnerabilities. Key takeaway: Educators must apply the same critical thinking they expect from students when evaluating new AI tools for classroom use.

Craig's Three-Stage Hierarchy: A Framework for Human-AI Interaction

The centerpiece discussion introduces Craig's developmental model for understanding how we work with AI:

Cognitive Outsourcing - AI does the task for you (the "easy" but often problematic approach)
Cognitive Offloading - AI handles specific components while you maintain control
Co-Produced Cognition - True collaborative thinking that produces outcomes neither human nor AI could achieve alone

Craig shares his experience co-writing with Claude, comparing it to the collaborative process of updating their textbook with co-author Franz. The magic: AI enables 24/7 expert-level collaboration that would be impossible with humans alone.

The Big Idea: This hierarchy should guide our teaching. Rather than telling students to "think critically" (a vague catchall), educators should actively move students from outsourcing toward co-produced cognition, where AI's power truly unlocks.

Geeking Out on Affordances

Craig unpacks how AI is fundamentally "a bundle of affordances" - potential uses that only matter when actualized. Using the metaphor of a rock (hammer? erosion control? weapon? stepladder?), he explains:

The same AI tool can be used to cheat on an assignment or to write a meaningless email nobody will read
What matters isn't just what AI can do, but which affordances we choose to actualize

Human-AI Collaboration: Outsourcing vs Offloading and the Rise of Co-Produced Cognition

AI Goes to College