There are mistakes. There are gaffes.
And then there’s Linda McMahon, the Trump-appointed Secretary of Education, calling Artificial Intelligence “A1”—repeatedly—during a major educational summit.
“We’re seeing amazing things with A1 teaching in Pre-K,” she said.
Not once. Not as a joke. Not with a smirk.
With full, steak-sauce-infused confidence.
A1. Like the condiment.
Meanwhile, AI is actively reshaping the world, overhauling everything from how we learn, to who gets left behind, to what counts as intelligence in the first place.
This isn’t just a bad look. This is fucking dangerous.
You don’t get to mislabel the single most transformative technological force of our time like you’re misreading a menu—and then expect anyone to take your leadership seriously.
Artificial Intelligence is:
- Disrupting classrooms in real time
- Changing the nature of assignments, learning outcomes, and literacy
- Influencing testing, grading, accessibility, and student autonomy
And the person leading education can’t even pronounce it correctly?
This isn’t funny. It’s systemic rot wrapped in press-conference hair.
Pete Buttigieg Said It Best:
“I love A1 Steak Sauce—but A1 steak sauce is not one of the most important things confronting humanity right now. Artificial intelligence is.”
Translation: Get your shit together.
And honestly? He was too polite.
Here’s what this actually means:
- If your education leader doesn’t know the language of the future, she sure as hell can’t prepare students for it.
- If she doesn’t understand AI, she can’t regulate it, integrate it, or shield students from its exploitative applications.
- If she can’t speak intelligently about AI at a tech conference, how do you think she’s handling real policy behind closed doors?
Spoiler: She’s not. She’s winging it while the country’s kids are being algorithmically fed into systems no one’s overseeing.
You don’t get to laugh this off.
Every student deserves a future-ready education.
Every parent deserves to believe the person in charge of national policy isn’t confusing emerging tech with a fucking steak sauce.
We’re not in the age of pencils and Scantrons anymore.
We’re in the age of neural networks, algorithmic learning, and synthetic companions.
You don’t get to call it “A1” and keep your job.
Final Thought:
If this was a parody, it’d be hilarious.
But it’s not. It’s reality.
And it’s telling us everything we need to know about the priorities of those in power:
Soundbites over substance. Branding over brains.
A1 over AI.
So no—we don’t just need better policy.
We need leadership that can spell.
