The OpenAI Forum hosted educator and data artist Greg Niemeyer from UC Berkeley for a talk on how AI is transforming learning, teaching, and thinking. Building on OpenAI’s mission to ensure broadly distributed benefits from AI, Niemeyer introduced a “Minus AI, Plus AI, Times AI” framework: minus AI for intentionally tech-free, embodied learning; plus AI for transparent, dialectical collaboration with AI; and times AI for AI as a medium that restructures knowledge itself. He proposed a cognitive insight formula—C = Q × T × K where meaningful learning depends on the quality of questions, the strength of trust, and the richness of the knowledge base, emphasizing that if trust collapses, learning outcomes collapse as well. Throughout the talk, he shared concrete classroom experiments showing how AI can either de-skill students or spark creative divergence and multiplayer learning when used thoughtfully and transparently. He closed by urging educators and learners not to choose one mode, but to move wisely among minus, plus, and times AI to keep curiosity, meaning, and our shared “we” at the center of education in the age of AI.

Is AI in a bubble? OpenAI’s Adam Cohen says hype exists—but so does lasting value. This issue explores speculation, optimism gaps, and real-world AI use driving progress.