College expert: "We've lost our way"

Over dinner with some friends this week, our conversation wandered from how AI is reshaping roles to how, despite all these advancements, some social issues still remain untouched.

The big takeaway?

AI will undoubtedly accelerate progress across many fields but we, as humans, still hold immense power over what we choose to advance. We decide whether to channel our energy into solving the social issues that affect our communities or to focus solely on building the next big AI startup. At Flintolabs, this is why we highlight not just the benefits of AI, but also its blind spots. Our students don’t just learn how to use AI but they learn to think critically about its impact.

Later that evening, our discussion shifted to the idea of crystallized intelligence, the ability to draw from accumulated knowledge and experience, something that shines in professions like coaching and teaching.

It reminded me of a session Ayesha led on AI embeddings (a concept that even many professionals find challenging!). She had middle and high schoolers experimenting with an app that visualized the semantic similarity between sentences. Watching those students grasp such an abstract idea so effortlessly was incredible.  I remember thinking to myself that this is the magic that happens when you have someone who has actually built software with AI teach complex concepts in a hands-on way.

Would ChatGPT have come up with the idea of using geometry to visualize sentence similarity? It has access to vast information, but there’s still something deeply relevant to your personal experiences that’s difficult for AI to tap into!

And then, on Saturday, I got a message from a parent after our first session of the October Foundations cohort:

“It’s amazing to see that they start building right from the first session.”

It made me smile. There’s so much curiosity and talent out there waiting to be nurtured.

-Janani

When: Registration deadline varies by pack type; Competition runs throughout school year

What: A global AI competition with ethics by design - solve real-world challenges using AI while building multimodal solutions (text, images, audio, video)

Who: Middle and high school students in grades 6-12 worldwide - NO prior coding experience required! Includes roles for everyone from designers to project managers

Format: Team-based competition where students create AI solutions (models, wireframes, apps, or research papers) to seasonal challenges. This year's challenge: Create a personalized learning tutor system that improves student outcomes while keeping AI ethics at the forefront

Prizes:

Perfect for: Students who want hands-on AI experience (coders AND non-coders), leadership opportunities, and a major boost to college applications - all at an affordable $150/team member for a full year of learning

In his new book "Dream School: Finding the College That's Right for You," education journalist Jeff Selingo reveals a truth many students and parents need to hear: prestige doesn't equal success.

The college admissions process has gone completely off the rails. Twenty years ago, the most selective colleges received about 600,000 applications. Today? Nearly 2 million applications - while the number of actual high school seniors hasn't grown nearly as much.

Here's what really matters according to Selingo:

Stop chasing prestige. Start chasing purpose.

The average acceptance rate at U.S. colleges is 65% - most colleges accept most students. Yet families keep obsessing over the same 25 elite schools, forgetting that success comes from what students do IN college, not which college they attend.

What should you actually look for? Supportive start, Easy connections and Student engagement

The bottom line: As Selingo puts it, "You should do what you do in high school because you want to do it" - not because you think it will impress some admissions officer. Build genuine skills and pursue real interests. That's what actually prepares you for success, regardless of which college logo ends up on your sweatshirt.

Read the full NPR interview: Jeff Selingo on "Dream School"

The line between being an employee and being an entrepreneur is disappearing. In the age of AI, every job requires entrepreneurial thinking.

Whether you're in a corporate role, a startup, or still in school, success now depends on the same core skills that define entrepreneurs: the ability to adapt, experiment, and create value.

Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, calls this shift "personal entrepreneurship." In his book Brave New Words, he argues that AI is a magnifier of human intent - it amplifies your clarity, creativity, and initiative.

Expertise alone is no longer enough. In this landscape, curiosity beats credentials.

The future of work belongs to the personal entrepreneurs: the doers, the builders, the curious minds who keep experimenting.

Read more: Personal Entrepreneurship - Future of How We Work and Learn

This week, we're highlighting Elsa Lo, a rising 8th grader from Long Island, New York, who watched her family struggle with something millions of students face every year: the overwhelming chaos of tracking college admission requirements.

Day after day, Elsa watched her brother and his friends spend countless hours checking and re-checking college websites, trying to stay on top of constantly changing deadlines, requirements, and information.

Instead of accepting this as "just how it is," Elsa asked: Why can't this be easier?

So she built College Admissions AI - an application that helps students easily find college admission dates and requirements with just one search.

No more endless website tabs. No more missing deadlines because information was buried on page 47 of a college portal. Just simple, accessible information when students need it most.

What makes Elsa's story powerful isn't just that she built a helpful tool as a middle schooler. It's that she saw a real problem affecting people she cared about and took action to solve it.

As one commenter noted: "College admissions is quoted as the top priority for high school students. This app has a lot of potential."

Watch Elsa's pitch and comment if you want to support this app: Student Pitch - College Admissions AI

Our October cohort is off to an incredible start!

Foundation students built their first AI-powered app in just the first session, while Mastery students are already tackling cutting-edge AR with AI integration. This is what happens when students stop just learning about technology and start building with it.

The November 1st cohort is filling fast - and we cap each class at 20 students. Sign up today

Why the limit? Because real learning happens with real attention. Our small class sizes ensure every student gets the support needed to build meaningful projects.

Flintolabs helps high schoolers develop AI fluency while building creativity - because the future belongs to those who can create it.

Our program has 5-star rating with reviews from both students and parents. If you have questions that you want to discuss before signing up, email us at [email protected].

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