Artificial intelligence is already shaping how students ask questions, seek affirmation, make decisions, and understand themselves. Most school conversations about AI still focus on cheating, privacy, and productivity. While those topics matter, they are not the whole story.

This session examines two quieter risks educators need to understand now. The first is sycophancy, when AI tells users what they want to hear and trains students who already struggle with feedback to expect even more validation. The second is anthropomorphism, when students begin treating a system that speaks naturally as if it were a friend, companion, tutor, or authority. One risk flatters students. The other invites them to trust the machine too much. Both are already showing up in classrooms, yet most acceptable use policies meaningfully address neither.

Using a personal story, a literary frame from The Odyssey, and a practical Schoolhouse Rock-style call to action, Jason Padgett and Ronda Swartz make the case that the answer is not simply another policy. It is age-appropriate education about what this technology is and is not, starting as early as first grade, using simple language to explain the realtive nuances of AI tools.

Attendees will leave with a shared vocabulary for these two risks, a frame they can take back to teachers and students, and a concrete project their districts can take on this year.