EP 50 | Why “Use AI Where Helpful” Isn’t Enough

EP 50 | Why “Use AI Where Helpful” Isn’t Enough

From Early Education in the Age of AI by Jodie Clarke - The Empowered Educator

July 3, 2026 · 33 min

About this episode

This episode discusses the implications of child safety reforms on digital technology policies in early education and how to effectively adapt them.

🟢 There's a good chance that somewhere in your service's policies right now, there's a sentence that sounds a bit like this: "Staff may use digital tools, including AI, where it supports their work." It sounds reasonable. But since the child safety reforms tightened the rules on digital technology and online environments, that one reasonable-sounding sentence might be exactly what catches your service out at your next assessment and rating. In this episode, I unpack what's actually changed since September 2025, why a values-based policy line won't hold up under Regulation 168(2), and the one simple, half-hour action that starts closing the gap on your own terms. 🟢 In this episode, you'll learn to: ✨ Understand what changed under Regulation 168(2) and why "having a nice belief about technology" is no longer enough ✨ Tell the difference between a value and a procedure in your own policy wording ✨ Apply the three-question test to any policy line ✨ Spot the AI already hiding inside apps you use every day, even when nobody called it "AI" ✨ Ask any provider the three questions that sort the safe features from the not-yet-safe ones ✨ Turn a vague policy into a shared, dated…

People in this episode

Host: Jodie Clarke

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: AI Empowered Educators Membership

More episodes of Early Education in the Age of AI

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Early Education in the Age of AI podcast page.