Natasha Singer: schools catch on to Big Tech's AI playbook

Singer's book recounts how Apple and Microsoft each built their own Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles curricula featuring tools like Apple's Swift or Microsoft's Minecraft. Google became a dominant education force through low-cost Chromebooks and its Classroom app, and was already a key platform provider for many schools by the time generative AI took off. Nonprofits like Code.org also played a role, kicking off a celebrity-laden campaign with Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg urging kids to learn to code.

Backlash eventually arrived. Some recent graduates say they feel let down after being told to code their whole lives, only to find entry-level jobs diminishing. Some schools are getting rid of Chromebooks, and research around the world is finding that adding technology to the classroom often doesn't have a significant impact on actual learning.

What may set this cycle apart is that parents and school districts are pushing back early — New York City and Los Angeles moved within a day of each other to restrict student AI use. Singer says she is optimistic that teachers and students are looking for a broader kind of tech education, one that teaches kids to ask deep questions about how companies steer them. Whether that optimism holds may hinge on whether districts act before AI tools become as embedded as the Chromebooks were.