"The AI-forward education platforms are expected to provide indispensable systems for surveilling and disciplining two despised populations - educators (especially unionized ones) and young people - who remain durably resistant to fascist propaganda".

Matt Seybold@mattseybold.bsky.social · 3d ago

“It’s putting a mind virus into a kid’s head, which is what education is. And it’s being done by a teacher you trust.”

My wife refers to this show simply as “Grunty Hunky Takes London” and never misses an episode.

Saeed Jones@theferocity.bsky.social · last yr.

There’s a new crime TV show on Paramount+ starring Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren, directed by Guy Ritchie AND NONE OF Y’ALL TOLD ME????? Wow, okay, I see how it is. #MobLand

Needed pep talk this eve: “And yet one other branch-lie, to-wit, that I am I, & you are you; that we are units, individuals, & have natures of our own, instead of being the tail-end of a tape-worm of ancestors extending in linked procession back - & back - & back - to our source in the monkeys..

How ‘bout this? You bring back Google Search circa 2017 and we all just agree to call it AGI 2030. Hooray. You did it.

April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) Excitedly Points

ALT: April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) Excitedly Points

static.klipy.com

One of the most dialectically astute aspects of the narrative shows how new print technologies improve mass literacy & simultaneously make limited proficiencies more visible. As more people enter public discourse, it seems as though literacy is eroding, but the opposite is in fact the case.

Matt Seybold@mattseybold.bsky.social · 17h ago

I adore this 23yo book, which never backs away from the complexity of its questions, takes no measurement at face value, argues that universal literacy has never actually been attained, & yet makes the efforts beautiful, even miraculous. This is the antidote to KiDs tOdaY DoN’T rEAd gOoD discourse.

I adore this 23yo book, which never backs away from the complexity of its questions, takes no measurement at face value, argues that universal literacy has never actually been attained, & yet makes the efforts beautiful, even miraculous. This is the antidote to KiDs tOdaY DoN’T rEAd gOoD discourse.

“Liemandt has many times regurgitated his intention to scale [Alpha School’s platform] to ‘a billion kids.’ According to UNESCO, there are only about 1.67 billion school-aged children in the world. So what Liemandt’s describing would be one of the most totalizing global monopolies in history.”

All Our Kids Will Go To Alpha School

On the plans to hyperscale Alpha School’s “AI” tutoring software to “a billion kids.”

open.substack.com

Here's a gift link to the article, where you can learn more.

How Chatbots and AI Are Already Transforming Kids’ Classrooms

Educators across the country are bringing chatbots into their lesson plans. Will it help kids learn or is it just another doomed ed-tech fad?

bloomberg.com

The Civility Files from the @uncivilcollective.bsky.social are a great place to start understanding the cringey & deeply unpopular Civics Centers & Programs that have draw attention in Iowa, Ohio, & West Virginia, but which are sprouting up all over. www.uncivilcollective.org

As great as the Britt shocked face memes are, the funniest part to me is when Smith corrects Klobuchar. He was not in Maryland to see the Hawkeyes. He was there to see Caitlin Clark. He's like, "No, actually, I have the weirdest Caitlin Clark fetish in this room. Who would've thought, right?!?"

Bleak. I think higher ed folks don’t always pay enough attention to what’s happening in k-12 so I appreciate Matt’s analysis that spans both. Alpha may be small in numbers but the rhetoric echoes so much of what I hear (and what folks are fighting against) in many nyc school districts.

Matt Seybold@mattseybold.bsky.social · 3d ago

“It’s putting a mind virus into a kid’s head, which is what education is. And it’s being done by a teacher you trust.”

This is my data politics collection. I’m not saying it’s exhaustive. It’s growing almost every day. And several volumes (like “The Nerd Reich”) are scattered elsewhere & in use. But my point is: I have one. And I think you should too.

Tressie McMillan Cottom@tressiemcphd.bsky.social · yesterday

We are going to occasionally talk about AI, work, data politics, and sociality here for everyday people. Some ground rules: 1. we won’t cotton to a lot of intellectual elitism (“morons” etc.) 2. This will focus on how I ask questions. This is *my* lens on the world. YMMV is always implied.

We are going to occasionally talk about AI, work, data politics, and sociality here for everyday people. Some ground rules: 1. we won’t cotton to a lot of intellectual elitism (“morons” etc.) 2. This will focus on how I ask questions. This is *my* lens on the world. YMMV is always implied.

So you know previous waves of technological fabulism the tech companies threw a little loose change at social behavioral research and user interface experience. whats interesting about AI interesting is that they aren’t even pretending to care about how people use the technology.

Old friend who’s accelerationist, & sometimes angry about my NeoLudditry, texted me this morning to say, “AI apps & their CEOs shouldn’t be anywhere near children.” Another friend, resigned to “inevitability,” messaged that “tech bros should augment teacher salaries.” Alpha shit drops the veil.

Matt Seybold@mattseybold.bsky.social · 3d ago

“It’s putting a mind virus into a kid’s head, which is what education is. And it’s being done by a teacher you trust.”

It’s also really clear to me this week that the people telling us that AI will transform work…haven’t seen a lot of jobs where people work.

This is basically terrifying

Matt Seybold@mattseybold.bsky.social · 3d ago

“It’s putting a mind virus into a kid’s head, which is what education is. And it’s being done by a teacher you trust.”

I probably should not have read this. The sterile language of this timeline only heightens the effect. There are so many layers of anger, but the “afforded the opportunity to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays to CORNELL” part hits me where I live. I have measured out my life in essays…

While working on Alpha I was frequently reminded of Cory Doctorow’s “Funny Math Gets Dangerous.” With the AI entrepreneurs, if you listen to them long enough, you will eventually encounter a speculative vision that can only be a.) wild delusions of grandeur, or b.) transnational totalitarianism.

I totally understand this frustration, & it especially enrages me how many insubstantial puff pieces have been published about Alpha & its founders, including by pubs that should’ve seen through the bullshit. That said, my essay is built atop investigative work done by others. Ben +

All Our Kids Will Go To Alpha School

On the plans to hyperscale Alpha School’s “AI” tutoring software to “a billion kids.”

open.substack.com

Ambrose@ambrosia-engine.bsky.social · 2d ago

This school just keeps getting more and more horrific. It needs to be shut down, why are Benjamin Riley and Matt Seybold the only ones doing real reporting on this blatantly abusive sham? Is anyone trying to help these kids?

This school just keeps getting more and more horrific. It needs to be shut down, why are Benjamin Riley and Matt Seybold the only ones doing real reporting on this blatantly abusive sham? Is anyone trying to help these kids?

Benjamin Riley@benjaminjriley.bsky.social · 2d ago

FIFTH REPORT: CHILDREN HARMED AT ALPHA SCHOOL'S BOOT CAMP Just over a week ago, 73 Alpha School high school students were left almost entirely unsupervised for three days in the Texas wilderness. It was a Fyre Festival-like disaster. buildcognitiveresonance.substack.com/p/fifth-repo...

Not feeling very light-hearted today, but Tressie somehow herding chatbot boosters, grammar police, & meal prep evangelists into her little corner of the internet & then mercilessly trolling them has been enough to get me through. Skeet is art. And everyday we get to watch Michelangelo go to work.

FIFTH REPORT: CHILDREN HARMED AT ALPHA SCHOOL'S BOOT CAMP Just over a week ago, 73 Alpha School high school students were left almost entirely unsupervised for three days in the Texas wilderness. It was a Fyre Festival-like disaster. buildcognitiveresonance.substack.com/p/fifth-repo...

FIFTH REPORT: CHILDREN HARMED AT ALPHA SCHOOL’S BOOT CAMP

Student hospitalized during Survival Challenge on wilderness ranch; police investigation is ongoing; other concerning incidents re student safety and privacy; one guide fired; also Little B. Diddies

buildcognitiveresonance.substack.com

Thanks for tagging me, @mattseybold.bsky.social. Yeah, so, Texas state filings show that Alpha School is literally a subsidiary of Trilogy — it's part of the business. (My posts on this below so people can see.)

A couple people tagged me here. Thank you. Following the money is definitely a precept of my EdTech research. When it comes to Alpha, the trail is both obvious, & deceptively complex. The obvious part leads to Joe Liemandt, his software company (Trilogy) & investment firm (ESW Capital).

All Our Kids Will Go To Alpha School

On the plans to hyperscale Alpha School’s “AI” tutoring software to “a billion kids.”

theamericanvandal.com

Greg Pak@gregpak.net · 2d ago

i’d love to see someone follow the money on this one

not saying alpha schools and their entire milieu are a CIA mind control project akin to project artichoke. not not saying that tho

I’m asking for just like, a couple days without some new, weird George Washington bullshit please

Matt Seybold@mattseybold.bsky.social · 3d ago

“It’s putting a mind virus into a kid’s head, which is what education is. And it’s being done by a teacher you trust.”