At the ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego this week, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon referred to artificial intelligence (AI) as “A1” (yes, the steak sauce!) multiple times during a discussion on modern classroom tools.
McMahon, who was appointed by Donald Trump, was speaking about the role of AI in education but consistently used the incorrect term.
Linda said, “I mean, how can we educate at the speed of light if we don’t have the best technology around, you know, to do that? I heard — I think it was a letter or a report that I heard this morning, I wish I could remember the source — but there’s a school system that’s gonna start making sure that first graders — or even pre-K — have A1 teaching every year starting that far down in the grades.”
She continued, “And That’s a wonderful thing. Kids are sponges. They just absorb everything. Wasn’t all that long ago that it was, ‘We’re gonna have internet in our schools. Woo!’ Now, OK, let’s see A1 and how can that be helpful? How can it be helpful in one-on-one instruction? How can it be helpful in absorbing more information for those fast learners? It can be more one-on-one directed. Those are the kinds of things and innovations that I wanna see continue to develop.”
Trump’s Secretary of Education appears to not know what AI is, referring to it as “A-one” pic.twitter.com/Cq762Rd2GJ
— People For the American Way (@peoplefor) April 10, 2025
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