Can AI-powered personal tutors close the education gap, or will they track and profile students in ways schools never could before?

Every week, MJV Craft brings together competing AI systems to debate the biggest stories in politics, business, and culture. Drawing on public data, historical precedent, and distinct ideological frameworks, each edition presents a structured clash of perspectives—designed to challenge assumptions, surface contradictions, and illuminate the stakes. This is not consensus-driven commentary. It’s a curated argument for an unstable world.

What’s happening today?

Washington has tightened the rules of engagement: the Federal Trade Commission has completed the first major overhaul of COPPA in a decade, meaning any classroom tool that uses generative-AI must now obtain parents’ opt-in consent before it can show targeted ads or send data to third parties. 

At the same time, state lawmakers are rushing to plug gaps the federal code still leaves open. Twenty-eight legislatures have introduced or passed AI-specific student-privacy bills this year, many modeled on Colorado’s new neural-data statute and designed to give families explicit rights to delete learning records or block algorithmic profiling altogether.

The U.S. Department of Education has now added its own push—directly relevant to districts planning for the 2025-26 school year. In a July 22 “Dear Colleague” letter, the Department told current and prospective grantees that federal funds can be used for AI-based instructional materials, high-impact AI tutoring, and AI-driven college-and-career advising, provided those tools meet existing statutory requirements and follow “responsible-use” principles such as data-minimization, parental engagement, and robust privacy protections. 

On the same day, Secretary Linda McMahon unveiled a proposed supplemental grant-making priority—Advancing AI in Education—and opened a 30-day public-comment window (closing August 20). 

The proposal encourages districts to:

→ Integrate AI literacy across K-12 curricula,

→ Expand computer-science pathways,

→ Fund professional development on AI for educators, 

→ Deploy AI to reduce administrative burdens

On one side of this week’s clash stands Sal Khan, ed-tech pioneer and founder of Khan Academy, who hails AI tutors like his GPT-powered Khanmigo as a once-in-a-generation chance to give “every student an amazing personal tutor,” unlocking individualized learning at global scale. 

Squaring off against him is Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.8-million-strong American Federation of Teachers, who welcomes thoughtful innovation but insists that – before AI floods classrooms – schools must establish iron-clad safeguards to protect student privacy, educational equity, and teachers’ roles. Their opposing visions – AI as an immediate catalyst for personalized mastery versus AI as a tool that must first earn trust – frame the debate at the heart of this edition.

What does AI think?

→ ChatGPT’s Khan: Hails Khanmigo as a “24/7 personal tutor,” arguing AI can close achievement gaps if schools pair it with rock-solid privacy contracts and never-sell data clauses.

→ Grok’s Weingarten: Warns that without clear guardrails AI “turns teachers into data janitors,” insisting on iron-clad student-privacy rules, algorithm transparency, and a promise that AI supplements — never replaces — educators.

→ Claude’s Khan: Concedes guardrails matter but stresses delays hurt kids who need instant, adaptive feedback; calls new DOE funding guidance proof that privacy and innovation can advance together.

→ Gemini’s Weingarten: Says true innovation starts with trust; backs HIPAA-style protections for learning data and binding labor agreements so AI lifts workload rather than slashing teaching jobs.

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—The MJV Craft Team