I see firsthand how easily students (and adults) accept confident-sounding answers, especially from tech. That’s what worries me most here — not just what Meta AI says, but what it won’t say. In the classroom, we teach kids to question sources, evaluate bias, and look deeper than the headline. But when AI platforms present filtered or curated information — especially around topics as complex and consequential as vaccines — we risk training the next generation to accept rather than inquire.

I’m not an anti-vaxxer — I’m a question-asker. I’ve seen legitimate concerns dismissed as “misinformation,” and now I see AI echoing that same sanitized narrative. If AI is going to be a classroom tool, it has to encourage critical thinking, not just deliver CDC-approved talking points. Because in education, certainty isn’t always the goal — understanding is. And we don’t get that without honest, unfiltered dialogue — even when it’s uncomfortable.