Help! My kindergarten relies entirely on AI.

Amira listens to the kindergarten children reading to them. Her flowing purple hair and large green scarf frame her face as she teaches the children to read complete sentences. A classroom full of five-year-olds is a hectic place, so children are encouraged to speak loudly – the better to hear and correct their pronunciation mistakes. But Amira is not your average teacher. She is the eponymous avatar of an AI reading app, Amira, which uses the “synergy of AI and neuroscience” to teach children to read – similar to Duolingo, but with a native language. As of 2024, New York City Schools has implemented the program in approximately 150 schools across the city. There are now thousands of children in the city learning to read at school using an AI-powered iPad app.

I first learned about AI’s incursion into public schools…