The AI gamble

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MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: AI in Education.

This week, First Lady Melania Trump touted greater access to high-tech tools for students. She spoke at a two-day summit with other spouses of world leaders.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: But the push comes at a time when some in education say “not so fast.” WORLD’s Harrison Watters has the story.

HARRISON WATTERS: First Lady Melania Trump walked into the East Room of the White House on Wednesday alongside a humanoid robot — a talking robot.

ROBOT: I'm figure 3, a humanoid built in the United States of America. I am grateful to be a part of this historic movement to empower children with technology in education.

The First Lady then invited representatives from 45 nations and tech leaders … to imagine how a humanoid robot named Plato could change education.

TRUMP: Plato will provide a personalized experience adaptive to the needs of each student. Plato is always patient and always available. Predictably, our children will develop deep critical thinking and independent reasoning abilities.

Melania Trump kicked off the two day Fostering our Future summit on Tuesday with panels tackling everything from AI education to online safety. Leaders touted programs for putting laptops into the hands of children and curriculum for teaching them about digital technology as early as first grade.

First Gentleman of Slovenia Aleš Musar said his country is struggling to overcome a more fundamental problem:

MUSAR: How to convert something that is seen as a tool for cheating into an educational tool.

Data from the U.S.-based group Carnegie Learning found that 3 out of 5 public school teachers in 2025 have discussed proper uses of AI with their students. But 6 in 10 report students are using AI to cheat on assignments.

White House Chief Science and Technology Officer Michael Kratsios told attendees that with AI’s growing dominance, change is unavoidable.

KRATSIOS: Every career path will use AI as a tool in some way so every child should be able to fully take advantage of AI with confidence and responsibility.

Last Friday, the White House gave its recommendations to Congress for federal AI legislation. President Trump wants lawmakers to require AI developers to secure their own power for data centers and protect the data privacy of children.

But aside from that, he wants to clear the way for developers to move fast and build things. The White House is also calling for more grants and tax breaks to go to AI in business and education.

Brad Littlejohn is Chair of the Policy Council at the newly formed Alliance for a Better Future in Washington, a pro-family, pro-tech think tank. He’s also a WORLD Opinions contributor. He’s concerned the bar for earning those grant dollars has not been set high enough.

LITTLEJOHN: They aren't being tied to proven results to like to actually these tools have been designed in a thoughtful way that honors concerns about child safety, honors concerns about data privacy, and crucially, that, I think the, I mean, the biggest issue here is, is that fosters critical thinking rather than cognitive outsourcing.

It’s not just K-12 educators worried that students are letting AI think for them. In January, the American Association of Colleges and Universities found that 9 in 10 faculty members reported concerns that AI will hurt critical thinking skills. Nearly 8 in 10 report that academic cheating is on the rise.

LITTLEJOHN: This is a totally new, untested experimental technology that we are essentially treating the next generation as lab rats for, right?

The Trump administration wants to ensure that tech companies do not use AI to track young people’s data. It also wants developers to do more to protect children from sexual exploitation online…without the government overstepping its bounds.

Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson said Tuesday:

FERGUSON: We cannot replace parents with governments. Instead, the government must come alongside parents and help them navigate the challenges of the internet and of artificial intelligence by making the best choices for their unique children.

Alliance for a Better Future CEO Janet Kelly says coming alongside parents should require more than simply informing them about the shortfalls of AI.

KELLY: Empowering parents doesn't mean putting the entire burden of protecting their kids from online harms onto the parents any more than we would expect parents to navigate kids buying cigarettes or alcohol without parental approval…we prevent that from happening by requiring age verification at the point of sale when it comes to cigarettes and alcohol, correct?

While the White House and its allies partner with tech companies to develop AI for the next generation, Kelly says parents should be vigilant. She points to recent court decisions holding Facebook developer Meta liable for mental health harms to minors.

KELLY: There are dozens of lawsuits across the country right now on the same topic. These same companies are asking us to trust them when it comes to the most consequential technology in human history, and we know better.

It’s now up to Congress to decide where to put the fences around AI in the public square and the classroom.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Harrison Watters in Washington.

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