The Disinformation Campaign Around AI in Schools

The headlines read like a line from Minority Report or The Manchurian Candidate. “A.I. Deal May Put Foreign Military Surveillance in Schools.” Or “NHCS Fast Tracking Surveillance on Children with France’s Foreign Intelligence Contractor.” 

These are just a few far-reaching narratives being spun before the New Hanover County Board of Education votes on whether to approve the AI pilot program this week. Which makes you wonder? First, why is there a sudden interest in this pilot program that was proposed by the General Assembly in 2023, and second, why are there so many false claims against the proposed contractor? Is this apparent disinformation campaign launched out of a genuine concern for student data privacy or is there an ulterior agenda to create political subterfuge among the school board in advance of 2026? 

Let’s clear up the common misnomers around this Bill. 

This is called a pilot program for a reason.

It is a two-year temporary test to see if this AI technology can enhance school safety, speed up emergency response time, and prevent violent situations from occurring using detection systems already in place like video surveillance. While this technology has been implemented in higher education spaces and large events like the Paris Olympics, its use in K-12 is limited, and the first time Eviden is implementing this technology. 

No, Eviden is not spying for the French Government.

This is a completely outlandish notion. While the parent company Atos is a French company with French government defense contracts, this is a completely separate group and no foreign government is going to have access to the school system’s data. It’s like saying you refuse to fly on a Boeing airplane because they have contracts in 150 counties. Furthermore, Eviden has stated that the data obtained would be stored on local servers within the schools, and not stored on the cloud. This is also attributed to the high costs of implementing the program. That brings me to my next point. 

No, they are not tracking individuals with facial recognition.

Eviden and Sen. Steve Jarvis (one of the lead authors of the Senate Bill) have explicitly stated that the program will not be tracking individuals or through facial recognition. The program would monitor school cameras and would however track things like if someone is holding a firearm. In a Carolina Journal article, Sen. Jarvis stated, “Facial recognition is not being used. It could be used according to the Parents Bill of Rights – there is an exception for safety, but Davidson County has chosen not to use the facial recognition. Even if you did use it all, all of the data is being housed on the server in the school. No data is going outside of the school, and after so many hours, just like the video feed currently is, it would automatically override.” In an article published by WECT on Jan 30th, an Eviden spokesperson noted the same thing. “The pilot program does not include facial tracking or facial recognition. Our experts are clear about this at the public meetings.” The spokesperson noted the features that would be deployed during the pilot system would include: real-time visible weapons detection, perimeter intrusion detection, smoke/fire detection, suspicious physical interaction (e.g., fighting, loitering), and mass group movement. 

No, this program was not funded by The Disaster Recovery Act of 2024.

The pilot program was in the 2023 budget as HB 259 and SL 2023- 134. You can see the bill changes in SB 382, page 107. I’m including the screenshot for reference. 

No Eviden will not have carte blanche to do whatever it wants to.

Eviden will have to abide by the scope of work outlined by the NHC Board of Education. Additionally, as outlined in the bill, this program ultimately reports to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee (JLOC). If Eviden breaches the scope of work, the contract can be terminated. 

Eviden is a legitimate company.

There are questions that Eviden isn’t legitimate or that its parent company is in default. During a discussion of the pilot program, the Senate Education Committee vetted the company along with other proposed contractors including reviewing their current financial statements. It was also stated that Eviden, a Texas based company, is seperating from its parent company. 

Mia Budd is not the lobbyist for Eviden.

There has been speculation that Eviden is being pushed in Raleigh because one of their employees, Mia Budd is related (by marriage) to US Senator Ted Budd. First, Mia Budd is not a registered lobbyist for Eviden or any NC company. Second, Eviden is a legally registered company with the NC Secretary of State’s office. It has been falsely reported that Eviden is not registered to lobby and it is illegally lobbying as an international corporation. This is completely inaccurate. Eviden is registered as a Principal for 2025 and has their registered lobbyists listed. It’s all public information. 

A valid question to ask though, is why was Eviden the only vendor chosen?

A revision in SB 382, as shown above, stipulates that Davidson County and New Hanover County would have to use the same AI company for the pilot program. Davidson Board of Education took action first because New Hanover County was in the middle of a Superintendent search so they got first dibs to choose. However, at a January 27th meeting of the Davidson County Commissioners, the Board Chair Todd Yates asked Superintendent  Dr. Gregg Slate why wasn’t an RFQ done to choose from multiple AI vendors.  Dr. Yates’s response noted around the 1 hour 15 mark was that the state legislature (Sen. Jarvis in particular) recommended they go with Eviden. Why would the General Assembly push one particular AI company rather than leave this up to the local school districts to decide? 

But Why All The Misinformation In The First Place?

Now that we’ve cleared up some disinformation about the pilot program, let’s get to the bottom of why these false articles were published in the first place. First the source of this disinformation locally is from the Cape Fear Beacon, under the pseudonym John McClane. As originally reported by WHQR, Peter La Fond is responsible for the site’s content. Not only were there at least four articles published with disinformation on the program, but one podcast used AI software to create voiceovers. A touch ironic. Mr. La Fond has used his platform to repeatedly go after Conservative School Board Members Pete Wildeboer, Pat Bradford, and Josie Barnhart. 

Soon after these posts were published, local “activist” Diane Zaryki who also advertises on Mr. La Fond’s Beacon, sent a series of emails threatening to “write a resolution to censure any Republican that votes in favor of AI in our schools.” I’m including that email below. 

First, what part of the Board’s vote to approve an AI pilot program to make our schools safer, goes against the GOP Plan of Organization or goes against the GOP Platform? Let’s remember this AI pilot program was already voted on and funded by our NC Republican House and Senate. Does Ms. Zaryki and Mr. La Fond plan to censure the entire Republican General Assembly? 

Even if a resolution is presented at district and state conventions, I’m sure it will be quickly ruled out of order. There are some valid questions around this AI pilot program and the New Hanover and Davidson County School Boards understand that. But the decision that the New Hanover County Board of Education makes today will be in the name of making our schools and students safer. We shouldn’t let disinformation campaigns and political subterfuge get in the way. Finally, to the bad actors who keep pushing these false narratives, well, in the words of John McClane, “yippee-ki-yay…” 

Originally published in The Wilmington Conservative.