Rep. Linda Serrato (D-Santa Fe)

STATE News:

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- A bipartisan group led by Rep. Linda Serrato urges PED to require parental consent for the use of Amira and to conduct regular testing to monitor AI “model drift”

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SANTA FE – Today, more than 30 state lawmakers from across party lines, led by Rep. Linda Serrato (D-Santa Fe), sent a letter to New Mexico’s Public Education Department (PED) raising concerns about the use of Amira AI in schools across the state.

The signatories urge PED to alert New Mexico parents to the use of the technology and to require parental consent before its continuation, as well as calling on the department to conduct ongoing testing of Amira to ensure the software remains appropriate and accurate. The letter warns of potential “model drift” seen in similar AI software, through which inputs to the system can alter the program’s behavior and performance.

“Federal AI management guidance has emphasized pre-deployment testing in real-world conditions, as well as risk assessments, data-quality review, and ongoing monitoring of AI systems,” the letter notes. “For systems interacting directly with children, those safeguards should be especially rigorous. It is not enough to test an AI model once and then assume its behavior will remain the same after it is deployed and exposed to new data.”

Further, the letter emphasizes the importance of safeguarding the sensitive information collected by Amira, such as students’ names, genders, birthdays, locations, and other demographics. It also highlights that establishing stronger AI governance and guardrails overall remains a top priority for the legislature.

“We fully recognize that AI can be a powerful tool to enhance our state’s systems, in education and beyond. But it must be coupled with proper oversight and transparency,” the letter continues. “New Mexicans deserve to understand the tools that interact directly with their children, especially AI technology that may develop and change over time.”

The full text of the letter and its list of bipartisan signatories: