JUHASZ: DiBenedetto now works for Louisiana’s Department of Education and is in charge of bringing Amira into more classrooms. He says by the time the state’s two-year pilot is over…

DIBENEDETTO: I think we’re going to see some interesting impacts, and we’ll definitely have some data to make prudent decisions in the future.

JUHASZ: Like whether to spend even bigger money on AI. The company behind Amira says 2 million children already use the tool. Experts caution the technology isn’t a replacement for teachers or even all tutors. It can’t build relationships with students like humans can.

MONTAGNINO: I’m old-school. I still believe people, especially with reading for little kids - that’s where it’s at.

JUHASZ: Montagnino, the principal in Gretna, says for that reason, she was skeptical at first.

MONTAGNINO: But this, to supplement good science of reading instruction in the classroom? This is great.

JUHASZ: And it’s likely to get better because just as kids are learning from Amira, it’s learning from them, too.

[Bolding added]

So it seems an alternative headline for this story would be “Private for profit company gets paid to collect training data for its AI from children who could face disciplinary or legal consequences for non-compliance”