Dear Editor,
Kendra Rickerby (Letters, Sept. 30) mistakes my argument about the value of AI in the schools as an ad hominem attack. An argument based on untruths is deceptive, whether or not the presenter is aware of its falsity. I apologize if my wording induced Ms. Rickerby to think that I was accusing her of being the deceiver. Only she knows whether she advanced her argument by accepting Silicon Valley’s version of the state of AI or by having fully investigated it herself. If the former is the case, then she has indeed succumbed to a Wall Street strategy (AI’s impending bubble collapse will be a repeat of the subprime bubble crash). If the latter is the case, then she has a responsibility to reevaluate her recommendation in the light of her experience as a school administrator.
Administrators, unfortunately, are forced to focus on numbers, not on education, and AI, like standardized testing, is one of those horrid things they have to make peace with. Neither Act 46 nor Act 73 address the heart of good education, and until the Legislature decides to do that, she and her colleagues will be like mice in a maze, constrained by walls they are not allowed to see beyond.
Sincerely,
Chuck Gregory
Springfield, Vt.