US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon attended the ASU+GSV Summit this week. There, education and technology experts gathered to discuss how AI will affect learning.
While talking on a panel about AI in the workforce, McMahon repeatedly referred to AI as a steak sauce-like “A1.”
“You know, developing AI – I mean, how can we educate at the speed of light without the best technology to do that?” she said. “I heard there was a school system where … first graders, or even Pre-ks, started teaching A1s every year and making sure they were beginning to get much lower grades. That’s great!”
I don’t think that in McMahon’s defense, artificial intelligence is actually abbreviated as “A1.” During the panel she initially said “AI” but became increasingly less consistent.
“It wasn’t long ago when it was ‘We’re going to have the internet at school!”,” she continued. “Now, let’s take a look at A1. How does that help?”
Because AI is a ubiquitous term, it seems difficult to imagine how to forget the correct acronym. This is like a professional athlete calling major league baseball the “NFL.”
Sometimes people get wrong. No one is perfect. But this feels like a bigger whim than usual. It comes in particular from the Secretary of Education.
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