An AI tutor is in SF’s classrooms. Parents say they had no idea

San Francisco public schools put an AI reading tutor called Amira in front of every K–5 student without telling parents. Host Emily Dreyfuss only found out when a substitute teacher mentioned it. Until then, she thought Amira was a real person.

This week, SF Standard reporter Ezra Wallach joins Emily to explain what Amira is, how it arrived in SFUSD through a larger curriculum purchase, and why kids say it can't understand them. They dig into the biggest question parents have: what happens to their children's voice recordings? That includes a line about deleting voice data that quietly vanished from the district's FAQ page. They also look at how San Francisco compares to districts banning AI and phones in classrooms, and why the district hasn't answered parents' questions.

Plus, Emily's sons Asa and Huxley share exactly how they feel about their AI tutor.

For more information and episode transcripts, visit: https://sfstandard.com/pacific-standard-time/

Support this podcast from The San Francisco Standard by becoming a subscriber: ⁠https://sfstandard.com/subscriber