People in the Age of AI | Michelle Culver, Nicola Soares
In the newsletter this week: Season 8 Kick Off, Knowing People, and TK.
🎙️ This Week on the Podcast: Michelle Culver & Nicola Soares
🎙️ Episode 1, Michelle Culver in Human Connection and AI
Michelle Culver, founder of the Rithm Project, explores the intersection of AI and human connection, particularly focusing on how these technologies impact young people.
Key points from the conversation:
Culver's background includes over two decades at Teach for America, where she eventually led the Reinvention Lab, TFA's R&D wing focused on the future of learning.
The Rithm Project emerged from Culver noticing a gap in conversations about AI—while many discussed how AI would change work and education, few were addressing how it would transform human relationships.
Culver observed that when talking to young people, their priorities often centered on emotional well-being and connection rather than just academic achievement.
The Rithm Project has three main components:
Research on the intersection of tech foresight and youth perspectives
Building a coalition of leaders ("spark strategy") through convenings, workshops, and experiential futures exercises
Creating modular curricula and resources that can be integrated into schools, camps, and after-school programs
A concerning trend is the rise of AI companions (like Character.AI, the 3rd most popular generative AI app) that young people are using for many hours daily, often due to loneliness.
Culver describes these AI relationships as potentially being either "vitamins" (enhancing human connections) or "Vicodin" (addictive pain relief that replaces real connections).
Research from the Rithm Project found that many students experience lower moments of human connection in classrooms than in other settings, highlighting the need to make in-person educational experiences more meaningfully connective.
The conversation concludes with Culver noting that while influencing tech giants is challenging, educators and parents have direct control over creating environments where meaningful human connections can flourish
📖 Key Quote: "Is this serving the kind of relationships I want, or eroding them?"
🎙️ Episode 2, Nicola Soares in School Staffing
With decades of experience beginning as a classroom teacher and now leading a major education workforce provider operating across 40 states, Nicola Soares, president of Kelly Education, offers valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities within education staffing.
Soares identifies several key factors contributing to the current teacher shortage:
Diminished Value of Teaching: The profession has lost status and appeal, with compensation not commensurate with other industries, particularly for new teachers burdened with student debt.
Increasing Demands: Educators now face unprecedented challenges from preparing for active shooter scenarios to addressing escalating student mental health needs.
Systemic Issues: The traditional funding models, teacher preparation pathways, and school structures have failed to adapt to modern realities.
"The biggest challenge right now is the shortages," Soares explains. "The love for the profession has just been challenged and impacted for a variety of reasons... it started well before the pandemic."
When asked about her vision for a reimagined education system, Soares advocates for schools as "the cornerstone of our communities" and outlines several key changes:
Aligning education more closely with workforce needs and future skills requirements
Rethinking teacher compensation to make the profession financially viable
Creating alternative certification pathways that welcome career-changers with valuable skills
Exploring different instructional models, such as team teaching and looping
Soares sees technology as complementary to human capital rather than disruptive. Kelly Education uses tech platforms she describes as "the Uber for education," matching qualified teachers with appropriate assignments in real-time. Their approach includes:
Comprehensive vetting and background screening
Professional development and continued education
Mentoring and classroom observations
Building strong partnerships with schools
Despite the challenges, Soares remains optimistic: "Through challenges come silver linings." She's encouraged by superintendents and HR leaders who are thinking differently about recruitment and retention, including recruiting across state lines and creating innovative programming.
As schools continue adapting to changing financial landscapes with federal funding shifts and enrollment changes, Soares' insights offer a roadmap for thinking differently about education staffing and school models to better serve students and support educators.
📖 Key Quote: "We need to be more creative, more open to alternative ideas."
📚 What I’m Reading
Keeping with my recent theme of curiosity, I picked up David Brooks’s How to Know a Person. Brooks has interviewed thousands of people over the years, but realized he didn’t truly know them until he started asking deeper questions and paying closer attention. In the book, he lays out a few simple but challenging principles for moving beyond surface-level interactions: real attention, sustained curiosity, and practiced empathy. These skills might come naturally to some, but Brooks argues they can—and must—be learned, especially in adulthood.
As I read, I found myself reflecting. I’ve always thought of myself as curious and someone who values deep connection, but the book challenged me. Before COVID, I was everywhere—out in the world, in the mix—but I’m not sure I was always fully present. The pandemic forced a shift. Being home made me rethink the kinds of conversations I wanted to have, and the people I wanted to have them with. Since then, I’ve tried to shed the surface-level stuff and pursue more intentional connections.
That said, I’m still working on it. I know I can talk more easily than I listen. But I’m trying to reverse that ratio. Brooks’s book gave me a few more tools and a reminder that making people feel seen isn’t just kind, it’s a skill worth honing.
If you’re curious, check it out here.
💭 What I’m Thinking About
This week’s Substack is coming from a pretty vulnerable place. I’m in the middle of navigating medical testing for my son, and the insurance process has been—unsurprisingly—an exceptional challenge. It’s become a barrier to getting the assessments my almost-nine-year-old needs.
Unfortunately, I’m not new to this. With my first diagnosis of crying at age 10, I have 31 years of experience navigating the system. Years ago, while working in Harlem, a colleague overheard me on the phone with my insurance provider. I was giving feedback about how their system delayed my access to medication for my chronic illness, lupus. After I hung up, she said, “It’s wild how self-assured you were—how you advocated for yourself in a situation that was maddening.” And while I appreciated the compliment, I give full credit to my parents. From the time I was diagnosed at age ten, I watched them advocate for me. That’s how I learned to speak, stay calm, and fight for what I need.
But here’s the thing: while I want my sons to know how to advocate for themselves, I don’t want them to have to. What a privilege it would be to never have to memorize insurance codes, appeal denied claims, or manage delayed medications. I know I’m not alone in this frustration, as most people have had some version of this fight. But wow, it still hits hard.