MK-Ultra to AI
The Evolution of Behavioral Influence in Education
Georgia is the first state to pass the Education and Workforce Strategy Act (HB 1302), marking a significant shift in how the state coordinates education and workforce policy under one roof. As of July 1, 2026, the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) officially became the Governor’s Office of Education and Workforce Strategy (GOEWS). Other states will soon follow suit through Executive Orders or legislation.
This is an example of how AI is affecting both education and the workforce. The digital revolution has supercharged behavioral science in education. Modern platforms collect extensive student data through biometrics, surveys, keystrokes, mouse movements, facial recognition, voice analysis, and interaction logs. Learning and predictive analytics identify patterns and forecast outcomes using their programmed algorithms. Adaptive learning systems dynamically adjust content difficulty and pathways. “Portrait of a Graduate” profiles compile not only academic metrics but also behavioral, attitudinal, and social-emotional data that can follow students into higher education and the workforce.
Behavioral economics has introduced powerful tools. Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s concept of nudging, implemented through computer algorithms that alter choice architecture to predictably influence decisions without forbidding options, is widely used in ed-tech. Examples include default settings that encourage certain study habits, gamified streaks and rewards, personalized reminders, and framing that promotes specific values or behaviors. AI systems now integrate emotion detection with nudges, creating real-time interventions that feel personalized yet operate at massive scale.
Synthesis and Implications. The evolution is clear: from Pavlovian bells and Skinner boxes, through Lewin’s group processes and Cold War experiments (BLUEBIRD → ARTICHOKE → MK-Ultra), to postwar diffusion into organizations and schools, the rise of formalized Social Emotional Learning (SEL), and UNESCO’s global frameworks, to today’s AI-augmented data ecosystems and nudges. Techniques once confined to labs or secret programs are now normalized, scalable, and often presented as compassionate and evidence-based.
This history offers lessons. MK-Ultra demonstrated the dangers of unchecked power in the name of security and a lack of consent. Modern systems, while less overtly coercive, are nonetheless equally coercive, raising parallel concerns about privacy, data permanence, ideological embedding, and the subtle reshaping of beliefs under the banner of wellness or global citizenship.
As behavioral science grows more powerful through AI, societies must prioritize transparency, genuine informed consent, parental involvement, and safeguards that protect individual autonomy rather than assuming institutional benevolence. They must also honor individuals as image bearers of Christ.
Rhonda Thomas is the founder and president of Truth in Education, a Christian Atlanta-based nonprofit that exposes harmful ideologies and Marxist globalist agendas in America’s schools. A national speaker and advocate for parental rights, Rhonda works to equip families and churches to reclaim their biblical role in children’s education. Truth in Education also engages in legislative efforts to defend parental rights and protect children from government overreach.
Georgia is certainly a red state, as in communist red! Combining education and workforce training is one of the first principles of the Marxist theory of communist education. They’ve been working on this at the federal level for decades. It used to be called School-to-Work. While education should offer preparation for future jobs, traditional education has offered a broader focus so that students have time to decide what they want to be when they grow up. This is best left up to students and their parents, not big government and certainly not big business. AI will take all of this to a whole new level.