Mom tours school with AI teachers, decides against sending her kids to kindergarten there: 'iPad babies becoming iPad students'

Ally Perry • Writer and Editor

Nov 12, 2026 3:45 PM EST

Can artificial intelligence teach kids better than an adult human being can?

Of all the conversations that we have surrounding AI and the way it is changing the world, education is a topic that features frequently. Proponents believe that this technology will help us reach new heights and bring a new level of convenience to the knowledge that we have at our fingertips. Its detractors, meanwhile, point to how it may stop us from thinking critically and make us increasingly reliant on needing a robot for help in even the most basic of intellectual tasks.

Teachers across the land already despair at students who turn to ChatGPT to do their homework and allow them to coast through their lessons without thinking about the work they are supposedly doing. A recent Harvard-led study pointed to how many schools lacked any policy on AI usage, leaving those working in the classroom to come up with their own approaches towards students using the technology for their schoolwork. It isn't like every single one is opposed, either; many educators use it themselves in an attempt to make their jobs easier.

For many students, the lure of AI is going to be difficult to resist even if they have a teacher who expressly forbids them from using it. Perhaps that is part of the reason why some schools are now leaning towards policies that are pro-artificial intelligence. It isn't always just because they can't avoid their students using it, but also because they believe it is a part of the future.

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plot twist, i will NOT be sending my kids to ai school what do you think?

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Although we can't know for sure what the future will bring for AI, it looks like it is going to be a part of modern life for the time being. For this reason, it is wise to teach kids how to approach it, even if teachers and parents believe it should be out of bounds for most schoolwork. After all, how many jobs that require a college degree these days expect an employee to be using AI as part of their role?
Apparently, some educational facilities are so invested in this technology being the future that they make it the focal point of their teaching in the present. Viewers were horrified when one mom and TikToker shared her experience of touring an Alpha School, which uses AI as the primary teacher, with human classroom assistants acting as ‘guides’.
The mom had been enthusiastic for her kids to experience an AI-led education, but she was ultimately switched off by her experience. Citing things like a constantly updated leaderboard screen for the whole class and a cold, sterile environment with disengaged adult supervisors, she claimed that “there's no way that I'm ever sending my kids there.”
Considering that official guidelines from places such as UNESCO stress a ‘human-centered’ approach to incorporating AI into learning, it doesn't seem like the $ 50,000-a-year school was taking notes. While keeping up with the times and the technology is an important part of getting an education, there is a difference between being aware of it, and being consumed by it.
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