AICloseAIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All AI
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All AI
NewsCloseNewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All News
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All News
PolicyClosePolicyPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All Policy
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All Policy
Some of the nation’s rich are letting AI teach their kids
They’re paying tens of thousands of dollars for their children to be beta testers for unproven tech.
They’re paying tens of thousands of dollars for their children to be beta testers for unproven tech.
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All by Terrence O'Brien
Link
Share
Gift
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All by Terrence O'Brien
Most Americans don’t trust AI. It’s proven that it doesn’t know what safe toppings for pizza are. People don’t even want to listen to AI music. But none of that matters for some of America’s wealthy, who are turning to AI to teach their kids instead of traditional schools.
Companies like Forge Prep and Alpha School are charging families tens of thousands of dollars to turn their kids into beta testers for AI tutors and “interactive project-based workshops.” Unsurprisingly, Silicon Valley have been major adopters of this new model. Shaun Johnson, a San Francisco-based venture capitalist, told The Wall Street Journal that he plans to send his son to a $75,000 year Alpha Kindergarten. He said, “We recognize that education is likely broken the way it is and there’s going to be entrepreneurs that try to fix it… You want someone to be able to think on their feet and navigate the world, not necessarily a recitation of facts in a particular discipline.”
Ignoring Johnson’s fundamental lack of understanding about modern pedagogy, it’s unclear how notoriously sycophantic AI will train children to “think on their feet and navigate the world.” It’s also concerning that Alpha School cofounder MacKenzie Price has said she plans to keep “hot-button social issues” out of the classroom. Which, in the current political climate, could cover women’s rights, America’s history of slavery, and our immigrant past. That might not seem like a major issue when you’re talking about kindergarten, but in some locations, Alpha School goes through high school.
Companies like Forge also don’t share performance metrics, so there’s no evidence that these AI-guided private schools are improving educational outcomes.
Terrence O'BrienCloseTerrence O'BrienWeekend EditorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Terrence O'Brien
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All by Terrence O'Brien
AICloseAIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All AI
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All AI
NewsCloseNewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All News
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All News
PolicyClosePolicyPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All Policy
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All Policy
Most Popular
Microsoft is laying off 4,800 employees
Microsoft is laying off 4,800 employees
Microsoft is selling off four Xbox studios as part of significant gaming cuts
Microsoft is selling off four Xbox studios as part of significant gaming cuts
Xbox is a disaster
Vizio accidentally made the best dumb TV on the market
Vizio accidentally made the best dumb TV on the market
Can Partiful keep the party going?
Can Partiful keep the party going?
The Verge Daily
A free daily digest of the news that matters most.
Advertiser Content FromThis is the title for the native ad
This is the title for the native ad