AI company paid $4.3 million in New York to promote ‘artificial’ reviews on website

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by Deirdre Bardolph and Susan Edelman

The company, which provides artificial intelligence education tools to Brooklyn high schools, boasted “testimonials” from phantom teachers in New York City on its website, The Post has learned.

Jason Green, co-CEO and co-founder of Learning Innovation Catalyst (LINC), happens to be a friend of school principal David Banks.

Green visited Martha’s Vineyard with Banks last summer. Banks’ partner, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright; Several children were also on vacation, according to Education Department insiders and photos seen by The Post.

Since 2018, LINC has raised $4.3 million in city funds for “professional development and curriculum,” including $2.3 million this year, according to city records.

The company’s AI tool, Yourwai, which creates lesson plans for teachers, is currently being tested in a Brooklyn school.

The names of the four people named in Yourwai’s testimony, Emily Johnson, Tyler Anderson, Cameron Williamson, and Ralph Edwards, are not on city payroll records.

The other four pseudonyms, “Kevin Anderson,” “Christopher Miller,” “Michael Davis,” and “Jessica Rodriguez” were too common to determine their authenticity.

There was a strange flaw in Miller’s words, in which he mentioned a private school in Puerto Rico. – Palmas Academy Elementary School Coordinator – This tool was used over 300 times within his week by his 40 teachers. ”

“I love YOURWAI!!” exclaimed “New York City Governor Cameron Williams.”

“Yourwai is very focused on education, and we love the out-of-the-box built-in tools,” the website quotes “New York City Administrator Tyler Anderson.”

“This was the highlight of my year,” raved New York City Administrator Ralph Edwards.

After being contacted by the Post, Yourwai immediately removed the name and mention of New York City from the quote.

“Testimonials on our website have been anonymized for compliance purposes,” the company said in a statement. “To avoid confusion, we have removed these aliases from our website.”

The company claimed these quotes were from actual teachers and administrators, but said it could not identify who quoted them or even confirm that they worked in New York City public schools. Ta.

“We are unable to share the real names of users who have shared a particular story, as their names are not stored in our database,” the company said. “I can’t even see the organization of the user who shared the story.”

The city’s Conflict of Interest Commission prohibits city officials from allowing vendors to use New York City titles in promotional materials without the agency’s written permission.

The company did not respond to questions about whether the DOE gave it permission to quote school officials.

The DOE did not respond to the investigation.

Brooklyn North High School Superintendent Janice Ross praised Your Wai as an educational benefit at a March 13 parent-teacher association meeting.

“Teachers spend hours creating lesson plans. They shouldn’t be doing that anymore,” she said.

Ross and Green have touted a seven-year working relationship and also have a close relationship, according to a LinkedIn post.

Both Ross and Green boasted about the “launch” of YourY in posts this month.

LINC was first introduced at a Brooklyn North high school in 2017, Green noted.

Yourwai said it will offer the program free to New York City schools on a pilot basis until the end of June.

“Our approach enables teachers to use artificial intelligence and technology more broadly, not as a replacement for, but to support and enhance, the work that only human educators can do,” the company said in a statement. mentioned in.

“Jason Greene is not a personal friend of Chancellor Banks,” he added, without elaborating on his visit to Martha’s Vineyard.

Critics warn against using AI as a “crutch” and because it is prone to bias and falsehood. AI programs have been widely criticized for their untrue and “diverse” content.

The Yourwai software has been “integrated” with the ethnic studies curriculum, Black History 365, Green wrote in a LinkedIn post.

“Integrating BH365 and LINC is a game-changer, allowing teachers to easily and easily access Black history curriculum,” Ross added.

The bank declared this week that he is “fighting tooth and nail” to restore $170 million in cuts to the early childhood education budget, among other funding cuts to the Department of Energy.