On this episode of That Tech Pod, Kevin Albert talks with Yvette Renteria, Chief Program Officer at Common Sense Media, about how AI is changing the classroom and forcing parents, teachers and students to rethink what it actually means to learn.

As kids head back to school, the question is no longer whether technology belongs in education. It’s what education should look like when AI can explain concepts, quiz students, provide feedback and even help write the answers.

Kevin and Yvette dig into the growing AI arms race between students and teachers, including whether tactics designed to catch AI-assisted cheating are actually solving the problem or just creating a technological cat-and-mouse game. They also tackle a bigger question: What should students actually be required to do themselves? 

The conversation goes beyond the classroom, exploring what happens when algorithms compete for kids’ attention, influence what they see and believe, and collect enormous amounts of personal data. Yvette also offers practical advice for parents trying to navigate phones, social media and AI with their kids as the new school year begins. It’s a conversation about AI, education, attention, privacy and raising kids in a world where technology is no longer something they simply “go online” to use.

Yvette Renteria is the Chief Program Officer for Common Sense Media. She leads the education, research, family and community engagement teams that help our kids thrive in a digital world. Yvette brings 20 years of experience working in schools and non-profit organizations. Within her years in education, she served as Deputy Chief of Innovation on the district level, school principal and elementary school teacher. Yvette has also worked in nonprofits as a Program Director for a workforce development organization and Chief Strategy Officer for an early childhood development organization. The focus of her career has always been about access, opportunity and growth for people.