I didn't ever plan to write a book about AI. Actually, I didn't plan to write a book to share any wisdom at all, since I tend to be so focused on doing the work and not playing guru on what others need to think and do. But I kept observing that investments, time, energy, and thought in education are driven by popular narratives of the time, no matter how sound or grounded they are. They take these resources away from more urgent narratives that focus on equity and social balance. One of the key narratives of the past 2 decades has been adaptive personalized learning and AI. And this narrative has been plagued by hyperboles, lies, and knee-jerk reactions. There is an urgent need for nuance, subtlely, and inclusiveness in not letting this narrative misguide and jade a whole generation of education change-makers.

So, instead of resisting the narrative, or acting like it is easily ignorable, I chose to embrace it in a way I thought benefitted the people who were deeply affected by this: teachers. This book is my attempt to bring educators into the light on that deeply mysterious technological idea. And in the process, I've tried to separate the foundational strengths from the smoke and mirrors. I have a core interest in building a much more solid informational and knowledge basis for approaching problems in education. With this book, I have been able to make links of key ideas in learning to this basis, all with the potential of what we call modern AI.