This is an excerpt from my weekly newsletter – ThreeThingsToTryToday.  I hope it teaches you more about TikTok’s dangerous business practices and how they can affect our young learners.

 

Unless you have been lucky enough to live under a rock this week, you probably know about the TikTok Devious Lick and bathroom challenges sweeping the nation – and not in a good way. It takes a LOT to get me to lose my temper, and believe me, I am ANGRY.

I do not have a TikTok account, but over 1.1 BILLION people do. I would venture to guess most users do not understand how their highly secretive algorithms are designed to understand your interests, feed you a diet full of those specific interests and keep you hungry for more. The more you use the app, the more it learns about you. You don’t have to hit “like” or “share”. You don’t have to talk about it or save the content for TikTok to know. That helps, of course – but all the app needs to do is monitor how long you look at each video that comes across your screen.

What you pay attention to grows. Now, that’s great if you’re looking at home decor inspiration, or gardening tips or those sweet dance moves the kids are doing down the hallway. But if you have paid attention to content that is related to depression, or anxiety or violence or VANDALISM or…… well, you know …. Then TikTok will feed you more and more and more….

Think about the BEST buffet you’ve ever been to. Hundreds of choices ranging from healthy to junk. People are around, so you certainly don’t want to be seen choosing too many unhealthy items. But.. what if just LOOKING at unhealthy food for too long was enough to put it on your plate . It would not matter what you chose that was healthy – your plate would instantly fill with unhealthy choices you looked at for a little too long . Over time, you wouldn’t even see the healthy choices anymore .

I’m sharing two incredible resources from a Wall Street Journal project done this past summer.

Their methodology: ” Over the course of several months, The Wall Street Journal set up more than 100 TikTok accounts that browsed the app with little human intervention, including 31 accounts registered as users between ages 13 and 15. The Journal also created software to guide the accounts and analyze their behavior.”

The first is a video that describes the algorithms and how a unique TikTok “For You” feed grows. WSJ makes the lesson very clear for all viewers, even if you are not a techy. Start there.

Then, please check out the second resource (an article) . You will learn the VERY dark side of TikTok and how it can reach our young, vulnerable learners. The article focuses on 13-15 year olds, but let’s face it . Kids have phones MUCH younger than 13 and (too) often create accounts that make them appear 13 . Some of the article is VERY disturbing to read and see, and in my role, I’ve seen a LOT. A. LOT.

That’s why I was compelled to reach out and ask for guidance to share here in my district newsletter. Gratefully, I was given the green light. I felt respected and trusted in my desire to share with you. Honestly, I hope what you learn angers you, too!! I hope it compels you to protect the children in your care. Our kids don’t even have to do a search for something inappropriate using this app. Their innocent curiosity can lead them down a rabbit hole we would never want them in. They will see things we’d never want them to see.

Our students will see things they can never un-see . I can’t stand by and let that happen.

Thoughts? Reactions? Strategies?

“Good morning, thank you for calling GWV International Travel Reservations. This is Suzy, how may I help you?”

“Hi Judy.  Marge from Getaway Travel. I have a couple that wants to go somewhere warm this weekend. Whaddya got?”

“Hi Marge! I will look for availability for two adults out of Boston this weekend to our destinations in the Bahamas, Caribbean and Mexico. Please give me one minute.”

Now, I could relay the entire conversation between Marge and myself from 1989, when I worked as a reservation agent for a vacation charter company. But you can predict, I’m sure….  I would narrow down her choices, answer questions about destinations, resorts, and tourist attractions. I would take down her agency and client details and book the trip. I would relay the confirmation number, and end the call with a “Thank you for calling GWV International, I hope your clients have a fabulous vacation!”

Was I trained for this job?  Absolutely!   I attended a correspondence school for one year (yes, through the US Mail).  My year culminated in a 1-month on-location training at their campus in Florida where I memorized airport codes, countries, capital cities and ticketing regulations. Soon after, I attended American Airlines’ school in Dallas to learn their computer system (Sabre).  Once I was hired by GWV, I flew to their destinations with some of the other 30 reservation agents to become familiar with all of the hotels and local activities (I know, tough job).

Why am I sharing the details of my first ‘career’ with you?

Good question!

Why don’t you watch this video from I/O 2018, and then I’ll tell you why. It’s only 4 minutes:

Nowadays, when my cell phone rings, and it’s “Casey” congratulating me on winning yet ANOTHER vacation, I can tell Casey isn’t real.  I can tell she is artificial.  She might be able to answer my clever questions about whether she is a robot, but clearly she is not human.

But the video I watched this morning took my breath away.  Those voices didn’t sound like artificial intelligence.  They sounded anything but artificial. They sounded like actual intelligence .

So that made me think… and worry….  and hope….

Google Assistant could EASILY be Suzy the Reservation Agent.  Just fill up a database with dates, locations, resort details, flight times and local attractions and BAM – you’ve got yourself a Suzy. Or a Judy (haha).  And you don’t have to send her to school, or put her on a plane to the Caribbean or teach her a computer system. Because she IS the computer system!   I know….  It’s 2021.  There probably are fewer reservation agents roaming the Earth since the onset of the Internet anyways.  But #AI technology could make the species extinct!

And of course, I’m not just talking about reservation agents…  Think about it:  Artificial Intelligence of this quality can take the place of so many jobs we have come to know.  We’ve seen the beginnings of it, but I know after hearing the voices on this video, there will come a time where we will not be able to discern between humans and robots.

Where does this innovative progress leave our students?  What do the Suzys of the world do when they graduate from high school and feel college is not for them? Furthermore, are colleges doing any better? How are we meeting the needs of students who will have to make a living and support families?  What jobs are we preparing them all for?

I know. I’m not asking anything new, here.  I have attended many presentations and keynotes on the topic. I’ve never added my own voice to the cacophony of those sounding the alarm for years. I know our aim needs to adjust to change trajectories for our students. I believe our widespread, traditional model of “doing school” is preparing thousands of human students to be Artificially Intelligent.  The COVID pandemic has changed our path where we can better prepare them to be Actually Intelligent .

As an administrator, I often miss being in the classroom; affecting change for my 20 students each year. However, each of us have a moral obligation to affect change for all students .  How are YOU changing what school can be? How are YOU advancing your craft to make a difference?

Most importantly…. How are you SHARING what you are doing?  Only together can we find ways to meet the needs of our students as they face a future we were never “trained” for. 

They are counti必利勁
ng on us.

Speak Life,