@joshbrake.com - Josh Brake

19 Feb 2026 01:12 +0000

Yes! I recently ran across this book chapter on critique that was great and helped to pull apart and define the tension with criticism. https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4153/chapter-abstract/171282/The-Role-of-Critique Wrote about some of my takeaway here. https://joshbrake.substack.com/p/we-need-critique-more-than-criticism-to-help-us-think-about-ai [contains quote post or other embedded content]

05 Aug 2025 13:48 +0000

Generative AI offers a set of potential benefits for learning. But like any technology, those benefits are inextricably tied to a set of drawbacks. What might Frog and Toad’s battle with cookies teach us about engaging generative AI in the classroom? https://blog.joshbrake.com/joshbrake/the-cookie-box-principle

18 Jul 2025 20:11 +0000

The latest from @timothyburke.bsky.social is worth a read for all educators thinking critically about genAI and what it means for higher education. https://open.substack.com/pub/timothyburke/p/academia-the-questions-are-big-its?r=ck1qh&utm_medium=ios

15 Jul 2025 11:44 +0000

It’s one thing to experiment. It’s quite another to tinker. We shouldn’t be tinkering with AI in the classroom this fall. Either do the work to articulate the question you’re trying to answer and the specific ways you hope the AI tools will fix it, or don’t use it at all. https://open.substack.com/pub/joshbrake/p/dont-tinker-with-ai-in-the-classroom?r=ck1qh&utm_medium=ios

31 Mar 2025 00:48 +0000

Yes, personalized lesson plans and resources are helpful for enhancing learning. But what’s much more impactful is the personal attention of a teacher. Attention that focuses not just on academic and intellectual development, but on the whole of what it means to be a flourishing human being.

30 Mar 2025 01:48 +0000

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery mediocrity can pay to genius.” - Oscar Wilde Says almost all you need to know about the AI x Studio Ghibli discourse of late. First Johansson, now Ghibli, what next?

29 Mar 2025 21:30 +0000

One of the best features of the Internet is the hyperlink. It makes the act of citing one’s sources seamless and helps point the reader to the origin of one’s thoughts. It is a technology that is aligned with a culture of attribution.

13 Mar 2025 21:49 +0000

My biggest hope for AI in education is that it increases friction. Yes, we need to eliminate parasitic friction but friction is a fundamental component of learning. Our discussion (like so many around AI) is suffering from poorly chosen words.

10 Mar 2025 16:40 +0000

Trying to nail down an exact definition of AGI is a fools errand. The more important conversation needs to be focused on when, how, and why we decide to seed our agency to these systems.

05 Mar 2025 21:14 +0000

In much of our conversation around AI's impact on education we're mixing up education and schooling. This week I turn again to Jacques Ellul and ask what his conception of "technique" might offer us as a lens through which to understand AI and its influence on us. https://joshbrake.substack.com/p/techniques-deception

25 Feb 2025 17:53 +0000

Looking at the lessons learned from pilots and autopilots has something to teach us about how we should think about the downstream consequences of AI for us and our students. https://joshbrake.substack.com/p/were-forgetting-how-to-fly

13 Feb 2025 18:47 +0000

Great piece here from @erikhoel.blogsky.venki.dev summarizing the main takeaways from the recent Microsoft paper discussing the impact of generative AI on critical thinking. Those of us helping young people to find their way toward building expertise should take particular notice. https://www.theintrinsicperspective.com/p/brain-drain

11 Feb 2025 18:15 +0000

Ursula Franklin is not a household name, but I'm on a quest to make her one. She continually comes to mind as I'm thinking about the questions we should ask about AI and its coming and present impact on us. I'm grateful for her work and her courage to ask unpopular questions. https://joshbrake.substack.com/p/ursula-speaks

05 Feb 2025 21:40 +0000

Efficient learning is analogous to efficient weight training. There are better and worse ways to train, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to lift the heavy things. I’m all for using AI to help us learn better, but let’s make sure we’re not just shilling the cognitive version of the ab belt.

05 Feb 2025 18:07 +0000

Empathy is a core aspect of effective teaching. When you experience pain and suffering, it’s an opportunity to bring it with you into the classroom and model honesty and vulnerability with your students. It’s one of the many aspects of the human teacher that AI can never replace. https://open.substack.com/pub/joshbrake/p/beauty-for-ashes?r=ck1qh&utm_medium=ios

24 Jan 2025 20:40 +0000

I finally figured out what those “baby in car” bumper stickers are all about. It’s just a euphemism for “sleep deprived parent at the wheel.”

14 Jan 2025 20:31 +0000

We live in Altadena. Perhaps you've seen our town on the news. It's not been a good week. Despite it all I’m resting in God’s goodness for me, my family, and my neighbors. I know that he has a plan for us despite the pain and suffering and that he’s big enough to hold our anger too. https://joshbrake.substack.com/p/greetings-from-altadena

07 Jan 2025 18:02 +0000

As we enter the new year, we'd all benefit from developing a personal hedgehog concept. Find the small set of things that at the intersection of your passion, talent, and value creation engine and direct your energy there. https://joshbrake.substack.com/p/get-in-touch-with-your-inner-hedgehog

02 Jan 2025 17:20 +0000

What technology can do is only a small part of the story. The much bigger question is how as a society and as individuals we respond.

02 Jan 2025 16:25 +0000

What if—just hear me out—we spent our time and energy helping humans embrace their agency instead of trying to paste a dim replica onto AI? Agentic AI is just another quest to create a shallow simulation of a deep human trait.

31 Dec 2024 21:02 +0000

To understand AI and its potential in education (both positive and negative) we’ve got to be clear-eyed that our patterns of behavior and the values that are upstream of them are being intentionally manipulated. We’re living in a Skinner box. Let’s pay attention to that fact. https://open.substack.com/pub/joshbrake/p/were-the-lab-rats-now?r=ck1qh&utm_medium=ios

19 Dec 2024 23:30 +0000

A simple, eye-opening question I'm asking a lot these days: to what problem is the solution?

19 Dec 2024 04:28 +0000

More thoughtful analysis on the latest AI x Education hullabaloo from @himself.bsky.social. The challenge these days is increasingly one of finding the signal in the noise. The disputes that are happening are worth having, but arguments on both the pro and con side tend to be overwrought. https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/ai-fight-club-and-what-it-hides?r=ck1qh&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

17 Dec 2024 19:44 +0000

If you’re not scared about agentic AI yet, I suggest you to watch a toddler throwing their weight around via Alexa. Truly eye opening.

09 Dec 2024 16:34 +0000

It’s a Heatherwick kind of day.