Thoughts on technology, education and related issues, now direct to your ears. Not always fully formed but never auto-completed.
helenbeetham.substack.com (https://helenbeetham.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)
Host Helen Beetham interviews Doug Belshaw, co-founder of We Are Open cooperative, about digital and AI literacies, exploring large language models and the need for critical spaces.
14 Apr 2025
Talking with Katie Conrad about AI and human rights
Some time ago I invited Katie (Kathryn) Conrad onto a discussion panel in the Generative Dialogues series (https://open.spotify.com/episode/0GZcMVvz3Pt5i2H0ZWkAUg?go=1&sp_cid=bca8417d83ade83bbbdb3ba76c595556&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop), and while this covered some essential ground in AI pedagogies, I felt there was a lot more of her work to dig into. So I was delighted she agreed to come onto Imperfect Offerings for a deeper dive, particularly into her Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights in Education (https://criticalai.org/2023/07/17/a-blueprint-for-an-ai-bill-of-rights-for-education-kathryn-conrad/).
Katie is (https://www.kathrynconrad.com/)a Professor of English at Kansas University and co-director of the AI & Digital Literacy (https://hallcenter.ku.edu/aidl) project, in partnership with the National Humanities Center, as well as Associate Editor of the journal Critical AI (https://www.dukeupress.edu/critical-ai). Her Blueprint was one of the first things coming out of the AI tailspin that really spoke to me - and I increasingly think a human rights based approach is critical - not only in the negative sense that the inequities of AI threaten so many legally enshrined rights (equality, non-discrimination, freedom of thought and expression for example) but also in a positive sense.
We need something in which to ground our ideas about humanity, in opposition to definitions of ‘the human’ emerging from the AI industry as a kind of host species for ‘intelligence’, and then as an inverse or supplement or deficiency in relation to whatever ‘artificial’ intelligence is supposed to be capable of. Human rights is a way of thinking about being human means that - for all its imperfections - starts from our common vulnerability and dependence on each other, and therefore our equality. Human rights have a long history of collective thought and action, and shared institutions that seemed robust until quite recently.
So it was the connection between education and rights, and Katie’s intentions in developing the blueprint, that I really wanted to talk about. As ever, we ranged well beyond our original brief. Here are links to some of the resources we touched on.
Links
The Blueprint https://criticalai.org/2023/07/17/a-blueprint-for-an-ai-bill-of-rights-for-education-kathryn-conrad/ (https://criticalai.org/2023/07/17/a-blueprint-for-an-ai-bill-of-rights-for-education-kathryn-conrad/)
NORRAG Policy Insights: AI and Digital Inequities (including a chapter by Katie and Lauren Goodlad) https://resources.norrag.org/storage/documents/NllPZ3GRhnWCbiMFcG0tUv5qxOt4snLAVxpOwgsN.pdf
Katie’s Critical Digital Literacy resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TAXqYGid8sQz8v1ngTLD1qZBx2rNKHeKn9mcfWbFzRQ/ (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TAXqYGid8sQz8v1ngTLD1qZBx2rNKHeKn9mcfWbFzRQ/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.kgds7i8l6uca)
Katie’s blog: https://kconrad.substack.com/
Artificial Intelligence in Education: a critical view through the lens of human rights, democracy and the rule of law: https://rm.coe.int/artificial-intelligence-and-education-a-critical-view-through-the-lens/1680a886bd
Pedagogies of Generative AI: podcast with Helen and Mark Carrigan from May last year, with Katie and others:
Critical AI journal: https://www.dukeupress.edu/critical-ai
Marc Watkins’ Rhetorica: marcwatkins.substack.com
Thresholds in Education https://academyforeducationalstudies.org/journals/thresholds/ (https://academyforeducationalstudies.org/journals/thresholds/)
Maha Bali’s blog on critical AI literacies: https://blog.mahabali.me/educational-technology-2/what-i-mean-when-i-say-critical-ai-literacy/ (https://blog.mahabali.me/educational-technology-2/what-i-mean-when-i-say-critical-ai-literacy/)
Report to the UN General Assembly on AI in Education: https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a79520-artificial-intelligence-education-report-special-rapporteur-right (https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a79520-artificial-intelligence-education-report-special-rapporteur-right)
Harvard’s AI Pedagogy Project: creative and critical engagement with AI in education: https://aipedagogy.org/
The Data Sovereignty CARE principles: https://www.gida-global.org/care (https://www.gida-global.org/care)
Melanie Dusseau’s Burn It Down piece for Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2024/11/12/burn-it-down-license-ai-resistance-opinion (https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2024/11/12/burn-it-down-license-ai-resistance-opinion)
Roderic N Crooks: ‘Access is capture’ - on how edtech reproduces racial inequality: https://www.ucpress.edu/books/access-is-capture/paper
Get full access to imperfect offerings at helenbeetham.substack.com/subscribe (https://helenbeetham.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
23 Mar 2025
AI realism
Audrey Watters discusses 'AI realism' and the adoption curve, exploring whether AI will lead to increased leisure or a more datafied workplace in this interview.
20 Mar 2025
Remi on student writing
Remi Kalir, Associate Director at Duke University, explores creating open dialogues around education and writing, emphasizing the importance of collaborative learning spaces, in an interview with the host.
4 Mar 2025
Alistair on unsustainable AI
Academic and climate activist Alistair Alexander discusses the unsustainable environmental impact of generative AI, including the power and water costs of data centers, in an interview on the podcast.
8 Feb 2025
Audrey on AI state capture
Audrey discusses AI's 75-year history with white nationalism, eugenics, and military violence, while Helen Beetham examines the UK government's AI Action Plan, revealing how technology shapes public education and data architecture in this interview.
3 Feb 2025
Audrey on eugenics and robber barons
Audrey Watters analyzes the connections between eugenics, robber barons, and current tech figures like Musk and Thiel, revealing historical patterns in technology and power in an interview with Helen Beetham.
22 Jan 2025
Eamon on human wisdom
Writer Eamon Costello explores metaphors, metadata, and interfaces of AI, discussing the wisdom of story and AI's compulsive nature in this interview.
15 Jan 2025
Catherine and Laura on HE for good
Editors Catherine Cronin and Laura Czerniewicz discuss with host Helen Beetham how generative AI impacts equitable higher education, exploring challenges in producing an audio version of their book and alternative technological futures in this interview.
9 Jan 2025
Dan on decomputing
Lecturer Dan MacQuillan discusses the connections between machine learning and historical methods of human categorization, also exploring education's role and resistance strategies in this interview.
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