‘Give kids different ways of learning’: Gee, Ursula debate over usage of AI in classrooms

A Texas private school debuted an artificial intelligence (AI) “tutor” and the results were astonishing—student test scores reached record-highs.

The school, Alpha School in Austin, Texas, has its students work with the AI tutor for two hours a day. The results? The classes of students became among the top 2% in the country.

“I don’t like the idea of giving (human teachers) up and then having kids watch another screen and then rely on artificial intelligence to see things that I believe are still best dealt with a human, so I’m not ready to buy into that quite yet,” KIRO host Ursula Reutin said. “I’m not a big fan. I like human teachers.”

Outside of the two-hour period with the AI tutor, students spend the rest of the day focusing on other skills, including public speaking, financial literacy, and teamwork. Teachers are still present, but they are more guides and proctors than actual instructors.

“I love this. I think our school curriculum for years has just been a certain type of way—kids go to school for seven hours, and you’re supposed to sit down. And for those who are like me and have a hard time sitting there for that long listening to this teacher, and just having to sit for seven hours,” KIRO host Gee Scott said. “Remember when the teacher would hold recess over your head? Sometimes we go a month without recess because we weren’t doing the right things. My point is, let’s give these kids different ways of learning.”

“I would still rather have human teachers, but aided with some AI to help take away some of the other responsibilities that can be done well with AI, without losing that human connection,” Ursula countered. “I just don’t want more screens and more noise input without that human connection.”

Listen to their full conversation here.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.