AI firm’s ‘bogus’ boosting
B’klyn HS-linked biz scrubs site
The company providing an artificial-intelligence teaching tool to Brooklyn high schools boasted “testimonials” from phantom New York City teachers on its website, The Post has learned.
And Jason Green, the co-CEO and co-founder of Learning Innovation Catalyst, or LINC, happens to be a pal of schools chancellor David Banks. Green visited Martha’s Vineyard last summer with Banks; Banks’ partner, first deputy mayor Sheena Wright; and several kids on vacation, according to a Department of Education source and photos viewed by The Post.
LINC has collected $4.3 million in city funds since 2018 for “professional development and curriculum,” including $2.3 million this school year, according to city records. Its AI tool Yourwai, which generates lesson plans for teachers, is now being tested in Brooklyn schools.
All eight names attached to Yourwai’s testimonials did not appear in city payroll records or were so common it was unclear if they worked in northern Brooklyn high schools.
“I love YOURWAI!!” gushed “NYC Administrator Cameron Williams.”
“This was the highlight of my year,” raved “NYC Administrator Ralph Edwards.”
‘Aliases’ erased
Following an inquiry from The Post, Yourwai scrubbed the names and references to New York City from the quotes.
“The testimonials on our website were anonymized for compliance purposes,” the company said in a statement. “We have removed these aliases from our website to clear up confusion.”
The company claimed the quotes came from actual teachers and administrators, but said it could not identify who made them — or even if they worked for DOE schools.
New York City’s Conflicts of Interest Board forbids city employees to let vendors use their city titles without written permission by their agencies. Yourwai did not say whether DOE granted permission to quote city employees.
The DOE did not respond to an inquiry.
Janice Ross, superintendent of Brooklyn North high schools, hailed Yourwai as an educational boon at a March 13 parent council meeting. “Teachers spend hours creating lesson plans. They should not be doing that anymore,” she said.
Ross and Green boasted about Yourwai’s “launch” in LinkedIn posts this month. The program is being offered for free as a pilot through the end of June.
The company also denied a personal friendship between Green and Banks, but did not explain the Martha’s Vineyard visit.