A.I. ‘Friend’ for Public School Students Falls Flat

July 2, 2024

stack of school books, an apple, and crayons

(New York Times) – Los Angeles schools hired a start-up to build an A.I. chatbot for parents and students. A few months later, the company collapsed.

A.I. companies are heavily marketing themselves to schools, which spend tens of billions of dollars annually on technology. But AllHere’s sudden breakdown illustrates some of the risks of investing taxpayer dollars in artificial intelligence, a technology with enormous potential but little track record, especially when it comes to children. There are many complicated issues at play, including privacy of student data and the accuracy of any information offered via chatbots. And A.I. may also run counter to another growing interest for education leaders and parents — reducing children’s screen time. (Read More)