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The AI Incident pits a foster kid longing for a home against a cold-hearted machine with its own plans.
The AI Incident by J. E. Thomas. Querido, 2025. 240 pages.
- Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12
- Recommended For: ages 8-15
Malcolm Montomery has a checklist: How to Get Adopted. After his parents were killed in an auto accident, he’s cycled through nine foster homes and now lives in Denver with a taciturn divorcee, Mrs. Bettye, who may or may not like him. With such extensive experience he has a pretty good idea what it takes to get adopted—no fighting, pranks, or detentions, no letters from the principal, always polite, awesome but not boasty—i.e., perfection. He’s not confident, but since reading an article on a library computer titled “Lucky Foster Kid Gets Forever Home,” his “prefrontal cortex has been obsessed—O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D” with earning a family before reaching the cutoff age of 13.
Meanwhile, being the new kid at his umpteenth middle school (Shirley Chisolm Charter, or SCC) automatically makes him weird and a bully target. This year may be different though; SCC has been chosen as a test school for a new AI teaching robot: a Forensically Reimagined Anticipatory Nana Cerebral Integrated System, or FRANCIS. This is a robot with a mechanical face and instant response to any question or situation. FRANCIS’s developer promises that the machine can deliver top test scores on Colorado’s annual assessment test with the acronym B-CAUSE (read the book to get the full title). Malcolm and another kid nicknamed Tank are randomly selected to usher FRANCIS from one classroom to the next, an exhausting chore during which they find themselves best friends.
The machine appears benign at first but soon shows a conniving streak. Is it merely trying to boost test scores, or replace human teachers? Can students really learn in a test-oriented classroom, or are they just learning to repeat correct answers? Even more ominous: Is FRANCIS trying to meddle in Malcolm’s personal life? The narrative deck is stacked against FRANCIS, as readers will soon realize. Anyway, who wants to be taught by a robot? The AI Incident makes a strong case against machine learning, while creating a winning character in Malcolm and sifting in plenty of humor.
Considerations: none
Bottom Line: A fun but thoughtful take on the intrusion of AI on human life and learning.
Related Reading From Redeemed Reader
- Reviews: Another recent book for this age group looking at AI and education is Schoolbot 9000: A Graphic Novel. Older readers (older teens) will find Scythe by Neal Shusterman to be an interesting, thought-provoking look at what a machine can do or control.
- Reviews: Nothing beats old-fashioned reading, and your kids need to see you read. We have recommendations for grownups too! See our Gift Books for Grownups lists: Round 1 and Round 2.
- Editorial: Are you homeschooling this year Before you start pulling your hair out (and wanting to use a FRANCIS), see Megan’s Eight Simple Enrichments.
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