Amanda Slavin
Engagement, AI, and the Future of Education with Amanda Slavin Ep 276 - The Global Discussion
Amanda Slavin, Founder of The Future Frequency, speaks with Host Simon Hodgkins on The Global Discussion
Amanda Slavin, Founder of The Future Frequency and a long-time innovator in engagement strategy, joins Host Simon Hodgkins in this episode of The Global Discussion. With a career that spans education, marketing, hospitality, and technology, Amanda brings a unique perspective on how humans interact with information and how that interaction must evolve in the age of artificial intelligence.
Her work centers on one idea: engagement is the key to learning, innovation, and human progress. In this conversation, Amanda shares how her career journey led her to develop new frameworks and technologies to reshape how we learn, work, and interact with digital systems.
From Classroom Theory to Real-World Engagement
Amanda describes herself (half jokingly) as an “engagement monster.” Her fascination with how people learn and participate started during her master’s studies in Curriculum and Instruction, where she explored the idea of using communities as classrooms.
That concept became the foundation of her career.
After leaving formal education, Amanda opened restaurants across the United States. Surprisingly, the same educational framework she studied translated perfectly into the business world. By applying engagement principles to marketing and customer experiences, she helped build successful ventures while deepening her understanding of how people interact with environments and ideas.
She later launched a marketing consultancy, working with large companies, startups, and nonprofits to improve engagement with both customers and employees.
Her philosophy was simple but powerful:
If you understand how people engage, you can transform almost any experience, from learning to brand loyalty.
The Vision Behind The Future Frequency
Amanda’s latest venture, The Future Frequency, builds on years of research and experimentation. The platform focuses on reshaping how individuals interact with information and digital systems.
Rather than designing one-size-fits-all experiences, Amanda’s approach centers on personalized engagement.
Her framework analyzes how individuals interact with content and adapts the experience accordingly. The goal is to help people move toward deeper engagement levels, progressing from passive consumption to active participation and reflection.
The system is designed to work across industries, not just education. Potential applications include:
Learning platforms
Marketing ecosystems
Workforce training
Gaming environments
Brand experiences
By creating a flexible engagement framework that plugs into existing systems, Amanda hopes to change how people interact with information everywhere.
Rethinking EdTech: Building With Learners, Not Just Investors
One of Amanda’s strongest viewpoints is her critique of traditional venture capital models in education technology. She believes many EdTech products scale too quickly without being tested with real learners and teachers first. This often leads to tools that increase complexity rather than improve learning outcomes.
Instead, Amanda spent several years building experimental tools in collaboration with educators, parents, and learners.
Some of these initiatives include:
Learning Frequency – a tool that helps learners reflect on how they engage with content
Gatekeepers to Guardians – a platform helping adults support young people in gaming environments
Roblox analytics tools that measure skill development during gameplay
A gaming wellbeing app developed with the Joan Ganz Cooney Center
These projects were built through collaboration and research before scaling—an approach Amanda believes leads to more meaningful innovation.
AI, Personalization, and the “Cold Start Problem”
Artificial intelligence plays a central role in Amanda’s work.
Through collaboration with the Learning Economy Foundation, she helped develop concepts such as an AI passport, which connects a learner’s data profile with AI systems.
This solves a key issue known as the cold-start problem, in which AI tools lack sufficient context about the user to deliver personalized experiences. With a learner-controlled digital identity and verified credentials, AI systems can better tailor educational and professional pathways.
However, Amanda emphasizes that data alone is not enough.
Without reflection and understanding, data becomes meaningless. People must learn to interpret and use insights into their own learning patterns to benefit from AI-driven systems.
Data Ownership and Learner Sovereignty
Amanda believes individuals should control their learning history, credentials, and engagement data instead of institutions. Today, schools often hold transcripts and records, requiring students to request and share them when needed. Amanda envisions a future in which learners own their records directly and can share them securely when needed.
This concept, supported by blockchain-based credential systems, gives individuals greater agency over their identity and achievements.
For Amanda, the implications are deeply personal.
As digital environments become more immersive and AI systems become more powerful, the line between our digital and real identities continues to blur. Ownership of data is no longer just a technical issue—it is a question of personal sovereignty.
Human Skills in the Age of AI
As AI transforms the job market, Amanda argues that education systems must shift focus.
Research suggests that millions of jobs may disappear while millions of new ones emerge, but productivity alone will no longer be enough.
Machines will always outperform humans at repetitive tasks.
Instead, Amanda believes the most valuable capabilities will include:
Creativity
Reflection and self-awareness
Curiosity and exploration
Collaboration and empathy
Problem-solving and adaptability
Ironically, these “soft skills” may become the most important skills of all.
Amanda notes that the term itself is misleading. Historically, it comes from military terminology, where “hard skills” involved weapons and “soft skills” referred to everything else.
Yet these human capabilities are exactly what differentiate people from machines.
Teaching Humans to Be Human Again
One of the most striking points Amanda raises is the role of boredom and attention.
In a world of constant digital stimulation, people rarely experience boredom. Yet boredom often drives creativity, reflection, and discovery. Children today grow up surrounded by endless entertainment and information streams, making it harder to cultivate patience and perseverance.
Amanda believes education should refocus on helping learners develop resilience, curiosity, and the ability to think deeply.
In her words, the future of education may simply be about teaching humans how to be human again.
Looking Ahead
Amanda Slavin’s work sits at the intersection of technology, psychology, education, and culture. Through The Future Frequency, she hopes to build systems that empower individuals rather than control them.
Her vision is ambitious but clear:
Create tools that help people understand themselves, engage deeply with the world, and navigate the rapidly changing landscape shaped by AI.
If successful, this approach could transform how we learn, work, and connect in the decades ahead.
About The Global Discussion
The podcast features carefully curated guests from an exciting cross-section of creatives, leaders, and thinkers. New episodes are available on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcasts and several leading podcast platforms. You can listen to and watch the episodes on our dedicated YouTube channel and the website.
To learn more about The Global Discussion, please visit:
https://www.theglobaldiscussion.com
Audio
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3QdMqfzyvca6EVlEJ80I4n
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-global-discussion/id1668702566
Video
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theglobaldiscussion
Website: https://www.theglobaldiscussion.com
Follow us on Social Media
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theglobaldiscussion
Others: X, Instagram, and Facebook