In San Francisco, a new private school is charging $75,000 a year for a model of education that many are calling dystopian. At Alpha School, children spend only two hours a day learning core subjects from artificial intelligence programs before moving on to “life skills” projects including how to manage an Airbnb rental.
Instead of traditional teachers, the school uses AI software that gives students personalized lessons in math, science, and reading. Human staff act as “guides” rather than instructors. Once the short academic block is over, students shift to hands-on projects meant to prepare them for the real world. One of the main examples is Airbnb management, where children learn how to set rental prices, decorate and clean properties, handle guest reviews, and compare their listings with others.
Supporters argue that this type of schooling prepares young people for entrepreneurship and gives them skills that textbooks can’t. But critics see it as unsettling. They say parents are paying more than most college tuitions for their kids to sit in front of AI instead of being taught by humans, while also being trained to act like landlords before they are even old enough to drive.
The idea isn’t limited to San Francisco. In North Carolina, a public micro school has middle schoolers help run a real Airbnb property in the afternoons while studying with AI tools like Khanmigo in the mornings. The difference is that the North Carolina program is free, while Alpha’s model comes with a staggering price tag that only wealthy families can afford.
The controversy raises questions about the future of education. Is school supposed to be about business training and short-term rentals, or about creativity, community, and deeper human learning? For many, the image of children being taught by AI how to profit from an Airbnb captures a troubling picture of what elite education may become: expensive, exclusive, and disturbingly focused on turning kids into entrepreneurs before they even finish childhood.
