The 404 Media Podcast Inside an AI-Powered School
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Feb 18, 2026 A leaked investigation into an AI-driven private school reveals surveillance, scraped curricula, and flawed AI lesson plans. A separate report covers mass AI nudification used to create a fake OnlyFans and the harassment that follows. There is also a look at law enforcement buying an AI tool that geolocates photos in seconds.
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Faulty Questions Hurt Learning
- Internal docs show AI-generated reading questions can be nonsensical and fail to teach deeper comprehension.
- Staff observed these defects reduce trust and frustrate students, undermining SAT prep goals.
No Human In The Loop Aspiration
- Alpha School's goal is a fully autonomous education system with "no human in the loop."
- Employees say the company is removing humans to reach that ideal despite known AI error rates.
Scraping Curriculum From Others
- Staff instructed using personal emails and expense purchases to scrape third-party educational content.
- Alpha School faced terminations from providers for violating usage policies and scraping at scale.