An AI chatbot named “Ed” will be Los Angeles Unified’s newest student adviser, programmed to tell parents about their child’s grades, test results and attendance, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced Friday in a back-to-school speech at Walt Disney Concert Hall that rivaled a Hollywood extravaganza.

Carvalho took the stage as high-volume music pounded and fast-paced video flashed across a giant screen. The audience of district employees—mostly administrators—applauded as if on cue as lighting, singers, videos, dancers enmeshed in an annual address unprecedented for its production values in the nation’s second-largest school district, a reflection of the superintendent’s attentiveness to generating positive publicity. Read more…