What we're reading:

"Asked to generate intervention plans for struggling students, AI teacher assistants recommended more punitive measures for hypothetical students with Black-coded names and more supportive approaches for students the platforms perceived as white, a new study shows."

We know that educators are bombarded with (VC-funded) hype about AI tools as magical solutions. Please don't take these claims at face value and do your own due diligence. 1/4

chalkbeat.org/2025/08/06/ai-te…

@education @edutooters

#Education #Educators #Edutooters #Teachers #Teaching #EdTech

AI teacher tools display racial bias when generating student behavior plans, study finds

A Common Sense Media study found AI teacher assistants generated more-punitive recommendations for students with Black-coded names compared with those with white-coded names.

^{Norah Rami (Chalkbeat)}

Update: This piece is getting some interesting pushback from parents who think I'm being alarmist about AI toys over on my other social platforms.

On the other side of that, I'm hearing so many people taking the usual "AI BAAAAD" stance, some of those people thinking I agree with them simply because I took a hardliner stance in this post.

For clarification: I'm not anti-AI. I use these tools daily for my research and writing as well as accessibility aids to offset some of the disadvantages I face due to my blindness. I study AI from the computer scientist perspective and am studying to be an elementary teacher precisely because I see AI's educational potential. I'm not even entirely against the idea of AI companionship, if it's framed right.

What actually bothers me is the business model. When Moxie robots suddenly "died" last year because the company went under, kids had to grieve their artificial friend. Parents got a scripted letter to explain why their $799 companion stopped talking which provided little comfort to kids who experienced digital abandonment. Trust me, the videos I've seen of kids crying because their beloved friend unexpectedly died over night is truly heartbreaking.

That's no glitch, that's what happens when you outsource childhood relationships to venture capital that only cares about investment returns.

The real question isn't whether AI toys are inherently bad. It's whether we're okay with corporations experimenting on our kids' emotional development while claiming it's "age-appropriate play."

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments.

open.substack.com/pub/kaylielf…

#AIToys #ChildPrivacy #ChildDevelopment #DigitalRights #TechEthics #SurveillanceCapitalism #COPPA #DataPrivacy #ChildSafety #TechRegulation #DigitalLiteracy #ParentingInTheDigitalAge #EdTech #CorporateAccountability #TechCriticism #EthicalTech

AI toys promise magical childhood experiences, but they're collecting our children's deepest secrets for corporate profit. 🧸🤖

How Six Decades of Cultural Conditioning Primed Us for the AI Childhood We Didn't Know We Were Asking For

^{Kaylie L. Fox (Kaylie’s Substack)}

🚀 Thanks for all the feedback on my German post about AI & critical thinking! I’ve just published the English version: »AI makes us humans unlearn how to think — and we mistake it for progress.«

If you care about culture, education, and how convenience can quietly erode our judgement, give it a read and let me know what you think. 👇

kuketz-blog.de/ai-makes-us-hum…

#AI #CriticalThinking #EdTech #KI

AI makes us humans unlearn how to think – and we mistake it for progress

How AI is changing our thinking — and why we risk unlearning it. An analysis of cultural shift, education, and convenience.

^{www.kuketz-blog.de}