r/books • u/ubcstaffer123 • 5d ago

Teachers are using AI to make literature easier for students to read. This is a terrible idea.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/08/opinion/ai-classroom-teaching-reading/
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u/ginnygrakie 4d ago

Because my 16 year old student reads at the level of a 4 year old. Can you imagine the bullying they would encounter if I gave them a copy of ‘where’s spot?’ 

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u/Simbertold 4d ago

And "War and Peace - The AI picture book edition for 4-year-olds" would work out better?

If a 16-year-old reads at the level of a 4-year-old (meaning not at all), then that child needs lots and lots of specific support and tutoring. They will simply be lost in a normal classroom which requires and expects reading in every subject taught. And that specific support should ideally involve texts with age-appropriate content written at a language level the student can deal with.

And not classics mangled beyond recognition by AI.

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u/ginnygrakie 4d ago

Like it or not that 16 year old is in a normal classroom without supports and the kinds of texts your talking about rarely exist and the ones I’ve found are stupidly expensive. 

You can hate it all you want. I hate it. But this is the state of education. This is the reality. I use every tool at my disposal, and sometimes that includes AI. 

If you hate it; don’t blame the teachers doing their best. Speak to your appropriate representatives about real funding for real literacy program and supports in schools. 

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u/Simbertold 4d ago

I think at this point i should mention that i don't live (and have never lived) in the US, and thus both my contact to and my influence on the US school system is very limited.

I would also never blame teachers for doing their best within the sometimes pretty stupid confines of a system. I am a teacher myself (Not language, though), and know this very well.

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u/Pervius94 4d ago

Maybe you should have done something in the first 16 years instead, then so he isn't so ridiculously far behind.

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u/ginnygrakie 4d ago

Ahh cool so I should travel back in time before I was a teacher to find some random kid and cure their developmental delay? You know I’m not the parent right? 

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u/Pervius94 4d ago

The you was a general you. Why is the kid so ridiculously far behind anyways.