Why is Gov. Kevin Stitt pushing an AI tutor into Oklahoma schools?

This past February , governor Kevin Stitt’s Education task force, dubbed the “Human Potential for Future Industries Task Force”, announced that an AI math tutor program would be introduced into select Oklahoma schools in March, with the goal of rolling it out in participating districts statewide for the 2025-2026 school year, allegedly at no cost to the schools themselves. The program, “Synthesis AI”, is the creation of Josh Dahn and Chrisman Frank, co-founders of Synthesis, and they both attended the February task force meeting to promote their product.

Oklahoma Secretary of Education Nellie Sanders, who chairs the task force, is quoted in a recent OKBusinessVoice article: “Our current education system isn’t built for the future—it’s barely built for the present,”… “Oklahoma’s students are full of untapped potential, and it’s our job to ensure they have the right opportunities to thrive. This task force is focused on breaking away from outdated, one-size-fits-all education models and create real-world pathways that prepare students for their future. Oklahoma will proudly become the first state to put Synthesis’ priceless, one-of-a-kind piece of technology in our classrooms— and I couldn’t be more excited for our teachers, students, and parents. I’m grateful to Josh and Chrisman for their partnership.” (highlights mine)

Something to note here: Synthesis AI has never before been used by a school district in the nation, meaning that Oklahoma students will be using an AI tutor that remains untested in a school setting. Are our schools to be a laboratory for this unproven technology, and can we really afford to go in blind on such an endeavor?

Stitt, who dubbed the AI tutor as “revolutionary”, is quoted as saying, ““Every student needs to be prepared to leave school college-ready or career-ready. That isn’t happening for too many Oklahoma students,”…“We want kids to develop their God-given talents and apply them in high-demand industries right here in Oklahoma. I’m grateful to Secretary Sanders and her task force for doing their part to ensure students go from classrooms today to careers tomorrow.”

Every parent wants their child to succeed, but we must be wary of misguided attempts at a solution that ends of making the situation worse. Initial research on the use of AI in the classroom has not produced glowing results, and in fact has shown that AI has resulted in poorer performance outcomes than tried-and-true education strategies.

Chrisman Frank, the co-founder of Synthesis AI, praised his meeting with Stitt’s task force in a post on X: “Thrilled to partner with visionary Governor@GovStitt and Education Secretary @NellieSandersOK to bring the magic of the Synthesis AI tutor to Oklahoma schools and families. Tutor will be available to ALL third grade students in the state this fall. Proud to work with the administration to serve the people of the great state of Oklahoma!”

So the Synthesis AI Tutor is a done deal for Oklahoma’s students? According to Chrisman’s post, it is. The replies to Chrisman’s X post seem suspiciously bot-like. Did he pay for artificial engagement on what is arguably his most important post on X, as co-founder of an AI startup that could potentially be used across the nation?

The task force released what it considers to be “priority actions”, and it reads like the familiar, meaningless buzzword glop we’ve seen elsewhere:

• Strengthening workforce-aligned education by integrating industry-driven skills into curricula.
• Expanding hands-on learning through apprenticeships, internships, and immersive learning experiences.
• Leveraging artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and other emerging technologies to create immersive classroom experiences.
• Assessing teacher preparation programs to ensure Oklahoma educators are equipped to meeting evolving student needs.

Long, hard experience shows that these wildly-optimistic bullet points never deliver. Parents and legislators should be very wary of anyone promising Heaven on Earth in order to push through another education “revolution”, when students here are already struggling to read and perform math at grade level. Long before “Ed Tech”, schools were able to successfully teach math, reading, and reading comprehension. Something terrible has happened along the way that has resulted in plummeting scores across the board. Rather than the savior, many point to just this type of Ed tech as the culprit.

In an article entitled, “The EdTech Revolution Has Failed”, Jared Horvath argues that, since the widespread introduction of internet-connected devices into the classroom beginning in the 2010s, student scores have dropped across the board. Rather than a mere coincidence, Horvath places the blame on EdTech itself, citing multiple large-scale studies that equate the omnipresence of internet-connected devices in the classroom with a significant drop in learning.

The logical solution, albeit one that no one in the business of education wants to hear, is to remove Ed Tech from our classrooms entirely, not double or triple-down on what has clearly been a massive boondoggle.

If an AI math tutor is indeed “revolutionary”, then Oklahoma should require proof, rather than allow students here to themselves become the test subjects. Untested, experimental EdTech has no place in Oklahoma schools, and our government should understand that before pitching us headlong into uncharted waters, when we are barely keeping our state’s students afloat as it is.