WIRED Roundup: Alpha School, Grokipedia, and Real Estate AI Videos

The thing that gets me, and I’m really interested in your opinion on this, Brian, as someone with the kids, the guide that brought these people in, they were actually in the room with the students to help solve any technical issues or what was happening in the real world. While some had experience as educators, others did not, and not only that, but Alpha often targeted individuals without a teaching background, instead going for those with entrepreneurial backgrounds, because nothing screams early childhood education like Series A funding. I’m confused as to what the whole point of this is.

Brian Barrett: It seems reductive, doesn’t it? It is the idea that school is grades and grades are numbers and coding is all that matters. While obviously school is about learning to interact with people, it’s as much a social thing as it is a numbers thing. I also think, how do you do art classes and finger painting and all the other things that are good for social development, good for mental development that are not small in number. And it seems that’s not part of the calculus here, which is a shame.

Leia Figure: And we haven’t even gotten into a key wired area of ​​interest, which is the issue of surveillance. These children are being monitored.

Brian Barrett: yes There was a report that our reporter, Todd found that this involved eye tracking software. Again, for some parents, I’m sure that’s great, and again, there are many parents at Alpha School who say, “Yes, that’s what we want.” They got a lot of great reviews, a lot of glowing press. That was not what we found in Brownsville.

Leia Figure: And as that last little surveillance anecdote, Todd shared a report that really blew me away from this one student who got a notification at home that he had been flagged for distraction by the anti-pattern or alpha system while he was doing his schoolwork. It turns out she said Alpha Systems sent a video of her in her pajamas, taken from a computer webcam showing her talking to her younger sister. Again, he is home. It doesn’t end when they leave the classroom. This is so beyond. And I’m sure there’s the case that everybody’s making, oh, they’re collecting data. It is a holistic experience. It still scares me.