Critical Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence in Education

The purpose of this graduate-level seminar is to offer a forum for students to explore, discuss, and understand critiques related to the rise of "artificial intelligence" (AI), especially generative AI, or what Emily Bender and Alex Hanna call "synthetic text extruding machines". We will discuss critical perspectives on the sociological, educational, and research implications of AI, including the unequal distribution of the harms and benefits of AI, the overlapping ideologies of AI and the eugenics, the impact of AI on human learning and creative expression, among other topics. This course is not intended for students interested in understanding the technical/computational aspects of AI, or for students interested in learning practical strategies for implementing AI in their work. Instead, it is an introduction to the social and political contexts in which AI is developed, marketed, used, and resisted, especially in K12 and higher educaiton.