[eba7keb]

Totally hear the concern. We have a few thoughts about this: 1). It's an AND not an OR for us. Ello doesn't replace parents at all. In fact, many parents use Ello WITH their kids and report that Ello has opened the doors to the kid reading more with them. 2). Not all parents have the skills to teach their child to read (or the literacy skills), there are also non-native English speakers who use our product and are grateful to have that support. 3). According to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a nationally representative assessment of student achievement in the United States, about 37% of fourth graders in the United States scored below the "proficient" level in reading in 2021. The scores are disproportionately lower for children of color and those with less resources. I would love for every child to have access to a 1:1 tutor (which runs about $100/hr), individualized education options and high quality education. But right now, we aren't supporting our kids.

It's also worth noting we aren't a full solution or a curriculum. So teaching in other ways still needs to take place. For many parents, it beats Disney plus and YouTube kids :)

[carapace]

First, thanks for taking the time to respond. Like I said, I do hope I'm wrong.

I will admit, this does seem like a pretty good use for computers.

I just I hope it's not part of the slippery slope to letting machines do our thinking for us. (Then again, what if they do a better job than we do!?)

I'm curious about how you detect and correct problems with the machine material? E.g. the (presumably automatic) error of substituting "phantom" for "fathom"?

Does your machine take a overconfident stance, or does it understand its own limits and help the child to know that it is not infallible?