Lexington is considering an unusual test of what schooling should look like when artificial intelligence does more of the teaching. The Lexington Observer reported that Alpha School wants to open at 92 Hayden Ave using an AI-driven two-hour learning model, with human guides rather than traditional teachers, and that the School Committee must approve the school.

Before the committee decides, it should ask for a simple human-learning audit.

For several weeks, track four things: when students solve a problem without help, when the system changes difficulty, when a human guide intervenes, and when a student can explain the reasoning behind an answer in their own words. Also record questionable outputs and how quickly an adult catches them.

The point is to distinguish faster task completion from deeper learning.

Lexington has every reason to examine an ambitious model carefully. The useful question is whether students leave with stronger judgment, curiosity, writing, discussion skills, and independence.

If Alpha can demonstrate that, Lexington will have learned something useful. If it cannot, the committee should know before novelty becomes policy.

Gleb Tsipursky, PhD
Columbus, Ohio

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