Technically, AI has killed people – literally – before now. But right on the heels of experts claiming AI doesn’t kill people (they seem to completely ignore the fact that there are harms other than death), another person was, in fact, killed by AI. Yet some people wonder why schools and businesses aren’t embracing it yet? Maybe it has something to do with it being abusive, hateful, racist and sexist, full of misinformation/lies, prone to hallucinations, etc, etc. We have had (what many are now calling) AI in education for years now (proctoring, dashboards, etc), where it has been causing harm all along. Lawsuits are just now starting to ramp-up in response to all of this – so why would schools want to open themselves up to more? Even if lawsuits aren’t that much of a concern for some, for those that actually care about students and staff – why would you unleash unproven technology on people? “It’s already here, you can’t get rid of it!” Well, so are drugs – but we don’t have to set up cocaine dispensaries on campus. “It’s the future of everything, you can’t fight change!” Okay, MySpace… Google Wave… Second Life… Bitcoin… “But it’s different this time!” Uhhh… claiming “it is different this time” is what they all always do.

If you pay attention to all of the conversation about AI, and not just the parts that confirm your current stance, there has been a notable swing in opinion about AI. It seems more people are rejecting it based on concerns than hyping it. And I’m not talking about that silly self-serving “stop AI for six months” Elon-driven nonsense. People just aren’t impressed by the results when they stop playing around with it and try it in real life situations.

There is a lot of space between “fully embracing” AI and “going back to the Middle Ages” by ignoring it. Did you know that pen and paper technology has advanced significantly since the Middle Ages – and continues to advance to this day? Nothing is inevitably going to take over everything, nor does anything really ever go away. Remember all of the various doomsday predictions about vinyl/records? We get the future that we choose to make. I just wish more people with larger platforms would realize that and get on board with choice and human agency. The Thanos-like proclamations of “AI is inevitable” are currently choosing a future that is bad for many due to them having the ears of a very small but rich set of ears.

Matt Crosslin

Matt is currently an Instructional Designer II at Orbis Education and a Part-Time Instructor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Previously he worked as a Learning Innovation Researcher with the UT Arlington LINK Research Lab. His work focuses on learning theory, Heutagogy, and learner agency. Matt holds a Ph.D. in Learning Technologies from the University of North Texas, a Master of Education in Educational Technology from UT Brownsville, and a Bachelors of Science in Education from Baylor University. His research interests include instructional design, learning pathways, sociocultural theory, heutagogy, virtual reality, and open networked learning. He has a background in instructional design and teaching at both the secondary and university levels and has been an active blogger and conference presenter. He also enjoys networking and collaborative efforts involving faculty, students, administration, and anyone involved in the education process.

www.mattcrosslin.com