Mind In the Machine is a podcast exploring AI’s impact on students’ mental health and everyday lives. It shines a light on the evolving role of AI in academia and beyond, focusing on how it affects socialization, mental wellbeing, and the blurred boundaries students face today.
The first episode features Florida International University student Frida Flores, who faced accusations of using AI tools during her summer coursework, without realizing that tools like Grammarly fall under that category. Her experience highlights the confusion around AI guidelines in classrooms and the mental health challenges that can arise from such accusations, including ongoing anxiety and paranoia in academic settings. “I kind of have a differing opinion when it comes to AI usage now because it’s like well, personally me it kind of messed me up,” Flores said.
In the second episode, Dr. Mark Finlayson from FIU’s Knight Foundation of Computing and Information Sciences offers expert insight. Specializing in artificial intelligence and narrative sciences, Dr. Finlayson unpacks the complexities of AI’s academic, mental health, and social implications. “I imagine AI is causing a lot of anxiety and stress on student parts,” he said. He provides thoughtful commentary on the real outcomes of AI use among students and offers practical solutions for both educators and learners navigating this new technological landscape.
Mind In the Machine connects authentic student experiences with expert perspectives to foster understanding of AI’s growing presence in higher education and daily life, creating a space to discuss mental wellbeing amid this technological wave.
Music Credit: “Abundance” by 1000 Handz is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
