EP343 The truth about AI's environmental impact: Finding your ethical stance as an educator

Is AI using a bottle of water every time you make a query? Are you a bad person if you use it in your classroom? Should schools ban it entirely—or go all-in?

If you've felt confused or conflicted about AI ethics, this conversation is for you.

I sit down with Dr. Karen Boyd, an AI ethics consultant who works with schools and nonprofits, to get real answers about the environmental impact of AI—and to talk through the much bigger ethical questions educators are wrestling with.

In this episode, we cover:

• The truth about AI's water and energy use (spoiler: Netflix is way worse)
• Why "just don't use it" isn't realistic anymore in 2026
• The spectrum from AI enthusiasts to conscientious objectors—and why most of us are somewhere in the middle
• 6 strategic stances beyond refusing: wait and see, constrain, compensate, rethink the work, and shape the ecosystem
• How to identify which specific values feel threatened to you (intellectual property? authenticity? effort and craft?)
• Practical ways schools can build ethical AI policies through knowledge sharing instead of top-down rules
• Different ways to use AI beyond shortcuts: as a thought partner, adversary, assistant, or accessibility tool
• Why understanding how AI works matters even if you choose not to use it

Karen offers a nuanced, inclusive approach that validates different perspectives while helping educators move from "this feels icky" to "here's exactly what bothers me and what I can do about it."

This isn't about convincing you AI is good or bad. It's about having the informed, thoughtful conversation we all need to be having.

Resources mentioned:'

Get the shareable article/transcript for this episode here.

Dr. Karen Boyd's Mission First AI Starter Kit (free vendor rubric for schools): https://drkarenboyd.com/blog/introducing-the-free-mission-first-ai-starter-kit

Get the sustainability chapter of Karen's book for free at ddrkarenboyd.com/freechapter No sign up is required, but you can get updates on AI in mission-driven work in your email about once per week if you select "sign up for news and updates" there.

My "Stay Human: Protect Your Brain Power in an AI World" curriculum (mentioned in this conversation) https://shop.truthforteachers.com/products/ai-literacy-lessons-teaching-students-why-writing-and-thinking-matter