Speculative Futures for Education
Facilitated by Dani Dilkes
Image generated by ChatGPT 4o in response to prompt: “generate an abstract image depicting science fiction, speculative fabulation, and string figure - speculative futures”. Thank you to all artists whose work was used to train the model.
Historic Speculations
An Invitation
Agenda
A Game of “What ifs”
“What if there was a global ban on privately owned vehicles?”
Less carbon dioxide
There will be a way for people to know each other
Lots of public transport
There would need to be a system for people to make sure they can get a ride. The system might be corrupted in ways that force less advantaged people to pay more for using it.
And there may be less displacement, such that more people work from home and have things delivered.
I’d not feel bad for not owning a car as I need one but can’t afford to buy yet
My Textbox
People would need to be more intentional about their travel and may become more isolated
We could democratize the street spaces to facilitate safer and more engaging transportation spaces. And I would have less run ins with cars while bike commuting.
Fewer vehicle accidents but those involving other means of transportation would naturally involve more injuries or deaths.
I would expect there would NEED to be massive changes to city planning, creating more “micro” neighborhoods that are walkable – which might only be possible in a reality where an authority CAN ban vehicles. There may also be an increased reliance on large, central retailers (i.e., amazon) that can deliver essential products to individual citizens.
A Game of “What ifs” Random Picker
What if the carbon dioxide footprint deminished…
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What if [add your what-if]…
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What if [add your what-if]…
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What if [add your what-if]…
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What if [add your what-if]…
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What if [add your what-if]…
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What if [add your what-if]…
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What if [add your what-if]…
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Speculative Fiction
What if genetic engineers brought dinosaurs back from extinction?
What if society embraced mass surveillance?
What if we continue to prioritize capitalistic ideals?
What if social credit controlled your opportunities in life?
And?
Break
5 minutes
Why Speculate?
It matters what stories make worlds, what worlds make stories.
Haraway, 2016
Dystopian or Utopian Futures?
BOTH
3 Ps of Predicting the Future
Generative AI is going to completely replace teachers.
A student will use Generative AI somewhere in the world tomorrow.
Generative AI is going to be integrated into education practices.
Probability: Likelihood that something will happen based on scientific evidence.
Plausibility: Believability that something will happen based on the past and present.
Possibility: Potential for something to happen, regardless of its plausibility.
So why try to predict the future at all if it’s so difficult, so nearly impossible? Because making predictions is one way to give warning when we see ourselves drifting in dangerous directions. Because prediction is a useful way of pointing out safer, wiser courses. Because, most of all, our tomorrow is the child of our today. Through thought and deed, we exert a great deal of influence over this child, even though we can’t control it absolutely. Best to think about it, though. Best to try to shape it into something good. Best to do that for any child.
Butler, 2000
Octavia Butler’s Rules for Predicting the Future
Learn from the past
Be aware of your perspective
Count on the surprises
Respect the law of consequences
Defining the Future
Questions about the future
How can we make quality education and training accessible to all irrespective of their socio-economic and geographical background?
Does every student will have access to AI in the future
With the use of AI, how could students apply ethics in their work.
How will student skill, confidence, and tenacity change as a function of GenAI/LLM tools? ��Will work complexity/scope adjust in kind?
How will generative AI be integrated into education?
How will climate emergencies impact access to education?
How can universities adapt to be more relevant for knowledge and skills development that are needed in society?
What will we prioritize in learning?
How could we get rid of grades and create new assessments that value student success?
How will prevalence of online options change education?
How will open education impact access to educational opportunities?
How will student autonomy be supported (or not)?
How can we encourage students and educators to augment rather than outsource their critical thinking and their creativity with AI?
How will the role of educators change w/AI?
How should AI evolve such that it generates whole 3D environments and situations for learning?
Break
5 minutes
Our Questions
How will Generative AI impact students’ critical thinking and their creativity with AI?
Who will we make quality education and training be accessible to?
Who will define what knowledge and skills development will be prioritized in universities?
How will the role of educators change w/AI?
How will climate emergencies impact access to education?
How will student success be defined?
How will student skill, confidence, and tenacity change as a function of GenAI/LLM tools?
With the use of AI, how could students apply ethics in their work?
Worlding the Future
If you need more space - please duplicate your slides.
The Cyborg in the Room
You are invited to use GenAI tools for your worlding. But, make sure you talk to your group and agree on its use. Please also indicate on your acknowledgements slide where/how you used it.
Image generated by ChatGPT 4o in response to prompt: “generate a picture of a cyborg elephant in a classroom reflecting the phrase ‘the elephant in the room’”. Thank you to all artists whose work was used to train the model.
A Dystopian Future
A Dystopian Future
How will Generative AI impact students’ critical thinking and their creativity with AI?
Who will we make quality education and training be accessible to?
Who will define what knowledge and skills development will be prioritized in universities?
How will the role of educators change w/AI?
How will climate emergencies impact access to education?
How will student success be defined?
How will student skill, confidence, and tenacity change as a function of GenAI/LLM tools?
With the use of AI, how could students apply ethics in their work?
Students will always use generative AI no matter what. They will not learn or apply an ethical approach to Generative AI use. Knowledge production will be automated and reproduce the datasets that Generative AI was trained on.
Vocation education (education that results in skills required in society) will be available to everyone; knowledge-based education (education that results in positions of political or social power or the ability to contribute to bodies of knowledge) will only be available to the elite.
Technology will define the knowledge and skills that will be prioritized; Technology will reflect the corporate values of Ed Tech companies.
Faculty and instructors will become obsolete. Technology will replace them entirely. The profession of teaching will cease to exist except as caretakers for youth. The classroom won’t be engaging for students.
Climate change will result in mass global electricity shortages, resulting in rolling blackouts in educational institutions and reduce access to resources for the non-elite. The divide between the wealthy and other will increase.
Not measured rigorously; student success is measured on compliance, convergence, and the ability to replicate desired social behaviours.
Education and resources become very hard to access because there is no longer a distinction between machine generate and human generated content. Student work is not focused on generating quality or agency - it’s focused on creating workers to sustain the current social order.
Due to a lack of defined ethical standards, there is no way for students to identify or respond to bias in GenAI content. Essentially, ethics have also become machine generated.
A Dystopian Future
Add images, media, text, or other artefacts to illustrate your future.
A Dystopian Future - Acknowledgements
Authors:
Contributors:
References:
GenAI Use:
A Utopian Future
A Utopian Future
How will Generative AI impact students’ critical thinking and their creativity with AI?
For whom can we make quality education and training be accessible to?
Who will define what knowledge and skills development will be prioritized in universities?
How will the role of educators change w/AI?
How will climate emergencies impact access to education?
How will student success be defined?
How will student skill, confidence, and tenacity change as a function of GenAI/LLM tools?
With the use of AI, how could students apply ethics in their work?
AI becomes a resource that students can use to enhance their critical thinking and creativity instead of letting AI replace that.
Everybody
Diverse voices; students can play an important role in collaboration with their teachers
AI takes the drudge work away. Provides the additional support; teachers can focus on teaching, building relationships and providing support to their students
Natural disasters: Available online resources accessible to people in best-suited formats; Solved climate issues and a greener world that reduces climate emergencies to zero
Able to gain skills that allows them to do things they want to do. Alignment of goals, satisfaction, and skills
AI becomes a personal tutor to help students without doing the work for them; Students stay in education because they are provided the support
No biases, acknowledgments given; personal ethical development that’s reflected in their work; transparency;
A Utopian Future
Add images, media, text, or other artefacts to illustrate your future.
A Utopian Future - Acknowledgements
Authors: Mir; Jenny; Christina
Contributors: N/A
References: N/A
GenAI Use: N/A
A Plausible Future
A Plausible Future
How will Generative AI impact students’ critical thinking and their creativity with AI?
For whom will we make quality education and training be accessible?
Who will define what knowledge and skills development will be prioritized in universities?
How will the role of educators change w/AI?
How will climate emergencies impact access to education?
How will student success be defined?
How will student skill, confidence, and tenacity change as a function of GenAI/LLM tools?
With the use of AI, how could students apply ethics in their work?
Mindset has an impact
The system needs to change so that it’s better at getting students to develop critical thinking
Gen AI could help to expose the strengths and weaknesses of teaching critical thinking
With the current trends of backlash against DEI, privileged populations will benefit.
Alternative schooling might provide opportunities for marginalized populations
A business and ideological mindset will define universities’ priorities - greater shrinkage of offerings - especially publicly funded institutions
It depends what their views on AI are.
It depends on the views of leadership - how they want AI used (as a tool, as a teacher replacement)
Leadership may reduce the number of teachers due to the existence of online offerings
Expose the need for better instructional design of instruction and assessment
Possibilities:
Immediate physical problems (flooding, blackouts, interruptions) hamper course delivery
Climate events cause environmental refugees - taxing for public institutions
A Plausible Future
Add images, media, text, or other artefacts to illustrate your future.
A Plausible Future - Acknowledgements
Authors:
Contributors:
References:
GenAI Use:
Reworlding the Future
Next Steps
Thursday, July 18th: Being in the Future
References & Readings