An Arlington Public Schools union leader objected to plans by Washington-Liberty High School to use AI to read off student names at graduation.
Parent June Prakash told the Arlington School Board at a meeting Thursday that she is the parent of a Washington-Liberty student who will be a senior next year, and asked rhetorically, “Who asked for this?”
Ms. Prakash is the president of the Arlington Education Association, but was speaking “in her personal capacity,” according to ARLNow.
Washington-Liberty High Principal Alexander Duncan III previously told the school community in a letter that “names are too often mispronounced during commencement ceremonies, which can detract from the milestone moment.”
The AI tool, provided by the company Tassel, which specializes in graduations and similar events, will be used along with professional name readers “to prioritize cultural nuance, ensuring every name is pronounced exactly as the student intends,” Mr. Duncan said, according to ARLNow.
Previously, school faculty read off student names.
At the meeting, Ms. Prakash argued that “graduation is one of those most meaningful moments in a student’s academic journey. … Turning that moment into an Al moment makes this feel standardized, impersonal rather than authentic and human.”
Ms. Prakash also said that the use of AI, instead of achieving the nuance Mr. Duncan mentioned, “can unintentionally send the message that efficiency matters more than identity.”
Washington-Liberty High’s graduation is scheduled for 9 a.m. on June 13 at EagleBank Arena, located on the campus of George Mason University.
