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Are you done reading? ASH-HAR QURAISHI: Alpha opened its doors this month to a K through 8 school in Chicago. It’s one of 50 campuses across the country with over 1,500 students nationwide. Artificial intelligence handles the academic instruction. School starts at 9:00 AM. And Alpha says students master their core subjects in just two hours a day using an AI-powered learning model. It’s math, writing, language, and reading. Writing and science alternate. ASH-HAR QURAISHI: 13-year-old Zain Shah spent his entire life in a traditional classroom. Is two hours enough time? Yeah, I think so. I feel like I can be more focused instead of having 20 to 30 kids in a classroom all talking at once. ASH-HAR QURAISHI: The curriculum meets state standards. The rest of the 6 and 1/2 hour day is for life skills– public speaking, financial literacy, teamwork, and leadership. It’s a huge draw for Zain’s dad, Benoy, who pays $55,000 in tuition. What were people’s reaction, your friends and family, to the idea of you putting him in a school like this? „I’m sorry, what? I’m sorry, what? An AI school?“ While it’s an AI-based school, I think what really brought us here are the core competencies of the life skills. ASH-HAR QURAISHI: Another big difference, the adults in the building are called guides. Lead Guide Carrington Haas says that’s by design. The main part of our job is to support the students motivationally and emotionally. ASH-HAR QURAISHI: The guides also transition students through lunch, recess, gym, and alternating activities, from rock climbing to fashion design. The AI is not in charge in any way. The AI is very much a tool. ASH-HAR QURAISHI: Brian Howell is the dean of parents at Alpha Chicago. A former anthropology professor, he says the school’s approach is actually more human-focused. The AI is not making any decisions about what students learn. The AI is not in control of a student’s day. Humans are. In fact, I would argue this education is more human-centered. What happens when kids leave the Alpha High School and go to college? We found really great success. They’re getting accepted to fantastic schools– Stanford, Northwestern, Rice. And I can say coming from a higher ed background that the students that I saw thrive in college are the students that learned to work independently. ASH-HAR QURAISHI: Dr. Rebecca Winthrop is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and has visited Alpha’s campuses firsthand. She says the life skills model shows promise, but she has concerns. Parents should know that this is an experimental model. There’s no clear, externally validated evidence around the results they claim. ASH-HAR QURAISHI: Alpha’s Chicago launch comes at a charged moment. Recently, Chicago School Board candidates were asked to sign a pledge limiting AI use in public schools. There’s a similar ban in other school districts, including New York and Los Angeles. Neuroscience says that deep reflection [INAUDIBLE], which a lot of times schools don’t allow enough time for, is really important for learning and long-term student outcomes. Alpha says they do not use chatbots. And their proprietary AI platform is closed, which means it does not draw from information online or outside their platform. For parents, experts say it’s important to talk to your kids about what AI is and what it is not, ask your child’s teachers how it’s used in school. And whatever screen time rules you set, be consistent. For CBS Mornings. I’m Ash-har Quraishi in Chicago.