The Seatbelt of Strategy: How AI Ethics Keeps Innovation Human

In this thought-provoking episode of Voices for Excellence, Dr. Michael Conner sits down with Rebecca Bultsma — international AI ethics researcher, Chief Innovation Officer, and co-host of AmpED to 11 — to explore what it really means to lead in the age of artificial intelligence.

From Kendrick Lamar lyrics to ethical paradoxes, this conversation moves from AI strategy and governance to the human heartbeat of education. Rebecca unpacks her belief that “ethics is the seatbelt of AI strategy”—a grounding metaphor for how innovation must move fast, but never without responsibility.

Together, Dr. Conner and Rebecca dive into:
How ethics and strategy intersect in real-world decision-making, from boardrooms to classrooms.

The VIBE Framework (Visible, Intentional, Beneficial, Earned) — Rebecca’s approach to ensuring AI use in schools stays transparent and trustworthy.
The coming wave of frontier models like GPT-5, Claude 4.1, and Grok 4 — and what they mean for leaders, teachers, and students.
How AI agents could transform personalized learning and potentially repurpose traditional schools into community-based learning hubs.
Why the next decade demands permission-to-fail leadership — cultures that value experimentation, iteration, and vulnerability over perfection.
And how the learners of tomorrow — Generation Alpha and soon Generation Beta — will thrive by staying curious, unimpressed, and unapologetically human.

Rebecca challenges listeners to imagine a future where education isn’t confined to classrooms, grades, or standardized tests, but exists as a network of personalized experiences, guided by ethical innovation and human connection.

This is more than a conversation about technology — it’s a blueprint for human-centered transformation in the age of AI.