Aaron Makelky on AI Scouts, Snow Globes, & Building vs. Consuming

Matt Karabinos sits down with Aaron Makelky—former history teacher turned Community & Developer Relations Manager at Descript—to explore the wild, humbling, and often hilarious journey of discovering AI. From a student showing Aaron ChatGPT after a Thanksgiving break to both men leaving the classroom within a month of each other, this episode is a real conversation between two educators who went all-in on AI before it was mainstream. They dig into the "tech lash" in schools, Aaron's powerful "snow globe" analogy for how schools operate, why every staff needs AI scouts, how they're raising AI-literate kids at home, and what vibe coding is really unlocking for everyday people. After this episode, you should be asking yourself, "are you consuming, or are you building?"Timestamped Show Notes0:00 — Intro: How Matt & Aaron Met — A LinkedIn DM friendship and parallel paths out of teaching2:56 — Aaron's AI Origin Story — A student shows Aaron ChatGPT after Thanksgiving break; he's never the same11:59 — From Classroom to Dev Relations — Aaron describes his new role teaching creators and developers instead of students14:08 — The Snow Globe: Schools & AI — Aaron's analogy for how schools operate in isolation and why that's a problem16:01 — AI, Cheating & Classroom Conversations — Why students are confused about AI cheating rules and what we should be teaching instead16:22 — Raising AI-Literate Kids — Aaron's 8-year-old wants an AI agent; the Ozzy Osbourne AI fact-check lesson; his son as the classroom's AI scout20:15 — Vibe Coding & Building Things — Aaron vibe codes a full summer routine tracking app from handwritten notes in one hour23:58 — Consuming vs. Building: The Final Takeaway — AI puts everyone in one of two categories; which one do you want to be in? We’re thrilled to be sponsored by Renaissance and IXL. Learn more about Renaissance: As a global leader in education technology operating in more than 110 countries, Renaissance is committed to providing educators with insights and resources to accelerate growth and help all students build a strong foundation for success. We believe that technology can unlock a more effective learning experience, ensure that students get the personalized teaching they need to thrive, and help educators and administrators to truly, fully, See Every Student. Learn more at renaissance.com.IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.