It’s back too school season and I am begging you to listen to these educational technology CEO’s say the quiet part out loud.
Parents and caregivers: if you want your kids to be prepared for school or caught up if they get behind, a human being who can connect with your kid and has years if not decades of experience will always be better than an app.
The CEO’s of Duolingo and Synthesis have no compunction about giving public interviews stating that the future of education is AI, that teachers are babysitters, and that their goal is to replace traditional education with AI models.
If this is what they’re willing to say out loud, imagine what they’re not saying?
I don’t need to tell you that the effectiveness of an educator is often more in their ability to connect with kids, present information, and work on the important interpersonal skills that make academics possible. But, apparently we need to tell these CEOs that.
Private tutoring is not accessible to everyone, and these apps do make it more accessible. If that is a benefit to you and your family, that may be the only option. But, be sure to engage with these apps knowing their motivation is not the same as a human tutor: human tutors and teachers want to empower kids with knowledge. AI driven educational apps want to convince parents the app is necessary, (and they also will use your child’s interactions with these tools to further inform their AI models).
