Oklahoma Is About to Test an AI School With No Teachers

The fabled artificial intelligence "Judgment Day" might skip the air defense contracts and come straight from Oklahoma's newest private school. If you haven't stumbled across it yet, AI teaching is about to debut across the Sooner State.

via GIPHY

I have to say, July has been a huge month for AI. Between the million data centers and the constant arguments about them, New York's repurposing of "companion" robots to be AI teacher/tutors, and now this for Oklahoma. It's a wild time to be alive.

Here's the story.

Alpha School got its start in Texas a little over a decade ago. It was an online-based school that sourced from learning platforms like IXL, the free Khan Academy - which has been revered for what it provides to anyone - and YouTube contributors.

Half traditional classroom work, half practical hands-on learning through projects a child could complete in the family kitchen.

Now, Alpha School is entering the AI classroom. A new sort of school without teachers.

It's giving Accepted

Now, we are on the cusp of a completely new thing here in Oklahoma, which is a weird spot to be in. Usually the Sooner State is among the last to adopt anything trendy or new, but we get to be the guinea pigs in this case.

Every adult with any measurable life experience is side-eyeing this whole situation with a natural sense of curiosity and distrust, but it's not likely going to be a common thing. Alpha School will be among the highest-priced educations in the state. $40,000 per child, per year.

A Solve For OK's Teacher Crisis?

Some see this as the natural evolution of a state that's been at the bottom of the national educational rankings. It is what it is.

That's not a criticism, just an observation. There's no magic wand or single bill that can be passed to instantly improve decades of dwindling educational quality in the Sooner State, and that's probably why this new, radical direction in learning is being pursued.

Some argue that this is a way around having to pay real teachers... Others are worried about the fact that AI platforms like ChatGPT very confidently offer some of the most wildly incorrect answers literally all of the time.

There's a lot of politics at play in the full story, but that's not my bag. School vouchers and all that.

Is it worth exploring?

That's the big question. If it's a huge success that evolves smarter kids across Oklahoma, that would be awesome.

If it's little more than the two years of lost learning our kids had during the pandemic, it'll be just another wasted year... but on the bright side, we can't get lower than #50 on the list.

We literally have nothing to lose at this point.

I'd be curious to know how you feel about this. Do we instantly reject it because AI bad? Or do we keep an open mind to see how it all plays out?