Why AI will not Democratize Education: a Critical Pragmatist Perspective

Abstract This paper builds on Dewey’s philosophy of education to argue that AI, at least in its current commercial form, is likely to have a negative impact on democratic education. AI and other digital technologies are currently being touted for their potential to “democratise” education, even if it is not clear what this would entail. Adopting Dewey’s notion of democratic education, I emphasise that education needs to provide children with skills and dispositions necessary for democratic living, experience in communication and cooperation, opportunities to codetermine the shape of democratic institutions and education itself, and equal opportunities to participate in learning. This allows me to show that most of the voices discussing AI and democratisation of education, conceptualise it in a narrow sense, focusing primarily on the technology’s potential to increase access to quality education. Consequently, I develop an analysis that investigates the relationship of educational AI to the four aspects inherent to Dewey’s philosophy. By examining today’s commercial AI tools and focusing primarily on Intelligent Tutoring Systems, the most prominent kind of educational AI today, I argue that their emphasis on individualisation of learning, their narrow focus on the mastery of the curriculum, and the drive to automate teachers’ tasks are obstacles to democratic education. I demonstrate that AI deprives children from opportunities to gain experience in democratic living and acquire communicative and collaborative skills and dispositions, while also habituating them to an environment over which they have little or no control, potentially impacting how they will aproach shared problems as democratic citizens. I accompany my analysis with suggestions how AI could be used to better serve the goals and values of democratic education. I highlight the opportunities for experiential learning introduced through simulations and games, note how learning network orchestration could expose students to a wider variety of worldviews, reflect on the use of AI to augment rather than automate teachers’ work, and suggest public development of educational AI.