I’ve been quiet for the past few months. A major reason for this is a sense of paralysis and fear of the future — a feeling I know is shared across the world right now. I’ve been trying to figure out where I might stand in support of all those who need it, including myself.

One of the great shadows over my own future is the narrative that “AI” technologies are and will be ubiquitous across human civilisation, therefore an essential part of all educational curricula. Twin narratives of “preserving educational validity from AI” and “preparing students for the AI infused world” have been striking dissonant chords for a couple of years now, and from my (perhaps naive) perspective, I just can’t fathom why education leaders don’t recognise that education doesn’t only prepare students for the future, but actively shapes what that future will be.

If we build curricula and policies and assessment strategies which code “AI” as inevitable, then we are writing and fulfilling the prophesy, by simultaneously telling students that AI is/will be ubiquitous, and training them to use and quality-assure generative AI products (”responsibly”) in their work and lives.

On the one hand, this feels like a hopeless, endless, self-making narrative that cannot be broken.

On the other, it’s nonsense.

First of all, everyone’s not doing it. Second, we don’t have to teach them to do it. That’s somebody else’s mandate, and I don’t subscribe. Third, it’s not inevitable — it’s a choice we are making. And it’s a choice we do not have to make.

And, finally, “it” doesn’t have to be like this. There are possible worlds where large language models and other big data algorithms are developed in ways we can support, regulated with clarity and values, and deployed in service of meaningful goals.

Join us.

The Library of Babel Group is an international coalition of educators who resist the narrative of “AI” inevitability. To imagine and work towards a better vision of the future of education and technology, we need each other. We are educators and practitioners across a huge range of fields and disciplines — law, computer science, art, policy advisory, school leadership, literature, mathematics, design, critical sociology, and more.

Our private listserv has over 50 members so far across Australia, the Americas, Europe and the UK. New members must be approved by the moderators, and your email address won’t be visible to anyone except the moderators unless you choose to send email to the list.

I hope, if you’re involved with any part of education in any way, that you’ll join us.