This Is The Bad Time
Some thoughts on last week and what it means for education and "AI."
Trump's winning is certainly not the start of problems in K-12 education, such as school shootings, though it dims the hope they will be addressed. A Harris victory wouldn't have lifted the long shadows cast by colonialism, capitalism, racism, and misogyny. Trump’s win is not the beginning of mass killing in Palestine and Tigray, police violence against Black people, poverty, lack of access to healthcare, and other problems, but it will likely exacerbate them.
Trump’s victory does mean the United States just elected a president who claims immigrants “poison the blood of the country,” wants mass deportation, banned Muslims, aired blatantly transphobic commercials, and was found liable for sexual abuse. If Trump governs as he campaigned, or as he did last time, oppressed and marginalized communities will be harmed. Yes, it is awkward for me to write about harms my white male privilege shields me from.
This is the bad time.1
Schools must prioritize practices that protect students, such as barring ICE from campuses. Still, there are connections between the political situation and generative “AI.”
Voices to listen to at this moment.
Dr. Alex Hanna
Dr. Alex Hanna, formerly of Google’s Ethical AI team and a Founder and Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR) referenced the works of Dan McQuillan and Joseph Weizenbaum to illustrate the connection between AI and fascism.
She asked an important question for teachers considering using generative “AI” in K-12 classrooms.
“How can a set of technologies premised on massive data collection, concentration of compute, the need to unretire coal fired power plants and the Three Mile Island nuclear plant to feed insatiable power demands, and a huge amount of specialized equipment be anything but authoritarian? - Dr. Alex Hanna, November 8, 2024.
Audrey Watters
Audrey Watters, author of Teaching Machines, which “explores the pre-history of personalized learning,” wrote about how “artificial intelligence” is inherently political.
She wrote:
“AI is inextricably bound up in ideologies and practices that seek to undermine unions, exploit labor, re-inscribe racial and economic hierarchies, and centralize control – of knowledge and knowing ("intelligence" in all its various military and eugenicist histories) – in the hands of a few giant technology corporations. (Folks, that's fascism.)” - Audrey Watters, November 8, 2024.
Alondra Nelson and Ami Fields-Meyer
Alondra Nelson and Ami Fields-Meyer were technology policy advisers to President Biden and Vice President Harris. In July, they wrote about what a Trump presidency would mean for “AI” regulation.
They wrote:
“Trump-allied think tanks have drawn up detailed plans to put responsibility for assessing AI tools’ safety into the hands of the powerful industry players who are building and profiting from them.” - Alondra Nelson and Ami Fields-Meyer, July 22, 2024.
A Takeaway for Educators
Being devastated by Trump’s victory and excited about generative “AI” in K-12 education are incongruent emotions.
How can we be devastated that Trump will be president while excitedly using unregulated technology that favors the powerful with children? How does that make sense?
Continuing the Conversation
Does your school district need help critically addressing what “AI” means in light of the election results? I would love to work with you. Reach out on Twitter, email mistermullaney@gmail.com, or check out my professional development offerings.
Blog Post Image: The blog post image is A group of men in uniform standing in a line by Hrant Khachatryan on Unsplash.
AI Disclosure:
I wrote this post without the use of any generative AI. That means:
I developed the idea for the post without using generative AI.
I wrote an outline for this post without the assistance of generative AI.
I wrote the post using the outline without the use of generative AI.
I edited this post without the assistance of any generative AI. I used Grammarly to assist in editing the post. I have Grammarly GO turned off.
I’m stealing the title of this post from Henry Hill at the end of Goodfellas.
Tom,
You shared some quotes that I hadn't thought about before. I will stew on them for awhile. I am not sure I agree with your statement "...excitedly using unregulated technology that favors the powerful with children". I see access to AI as the equity-maker. Are you saying that the tech powerful could lock out the poor? If so, this is exactly why we need to regulate AI access.