Digital futures and inequalities: critical perspectives on AI
Our thanks also to attendee and ReMap associate Sarah Horrocks for sharing her key observations below. Through their weekly “Connected Learning” newsletter on Substack, Sarah and her colleague Michelle Pauli* provide teachers and other educators with critical analysis and actionable insights on digital developments, spanning AI, computing, media education and digital news.
Speakers at the UCL Knowledge Lab event addressed issues including the status of knowledge and information in the context of AI and ‘the digital’, decolonising technologies, and the environmental and societal impacts of technology, such as the extraction of natural resources, neocolonialism, labour inequalities and platform power.
The end of information: media and education in a ‘post-truth’ age
David Buckingham, Honorary Professor at UCL’s Institute of Education, discussed themes from his upcoming new book, The End of Information. As a researcher focused on the commercial world’s impact on children and author of the media education manifesto, he brings a unique perspective to current debates.
He argued for:
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- describing information disorder rather than misinformation and disinformation
- media education rather than media literacy. Media literacy tends to focus on functional skills, tips, checklists and places excessive responsibility on individuals and consumers whereas media education focuses on concepts of critical thinking – “We need to show how knowledge is produced. We need to know how we know what we know.”
- an awareness of the paradox of media literacy which potentially encourages cynicism and more loss of trust
Check out David’s website and blog posts.
How does financing shape tech design in education?
Prof. Caroline Pelletier, also from IOE, UCL, argued for the need to examine how design priorities and the financial models of venture capitalism impact the creation of tech products for the education sector. Her presentation delved into the development process of these products, specifically how designers’ conceptions of education, learning and students interact with the financial imperatives. She pointed out that venture capital’s emphasis on scalability and risk-taking, often at the expense of efficiency or established outcomes, significantly influences the design decisions in the edtech field.
Other presentations, including Haira Gandolfi and Haley Perkins, explored environmental, colonial and societal issues emphasising inequalities between production in the global south and consumption in the global north.
The supply chain capitalism of AI
At the moment when the US president has called for Ukraine to make an agreement over its mineral resources for the tech industry, Ana Valdivia’s (lecturer in AI, Government & Policy at Oxford University Internet Institute) illustrations of her research into mineral extraction, AI chip production, e-waste and data centre and AI operations were informative and chilling.
She gave examples of Microsoft building data centers for ChatGPT in Mexico which has displaced water from local communities in one of the driest parts of the country, of locals in Chile and Uruguay fighting back against Amazon, Google and Microsoft data centres, explained the number and origin of minerals such as gold, tungsten needed in AI GPU chips and the geopolitical significance of these locations and impact on poor and indigenous people.
Ana called for shifting attention to corporate responsibility rather than individual individual-focused solutions (“should I stop using Google or AI?”) which place additional burden on already anxious individuals
The hidden cost of tech and AI
Kambale Musavali (human rights activist and technologist) made a powerful call for activism in his talk and explained the context of current fighting in the Congo, corporate control of mineral wealth and the relationship to conflict minerals such as cobalt in Tesla cars and in the technology we use.
As the day of critical enquiry concluded with a panel discussion and audience Q&A, a clear commonality emerged from the speakers’ presentations: the importance of empathy and human value in our use of digital technologies and information. All of the speakers challenged us to look beyond individual responsibility toward systemic understanding and change. Together, these perspectives remind us that creating more equitable digital futures requires not just technological innovation, but a fundamental reimagining of knowledge production, resource distribution and power relationships in our world. The seminar has made clear that the path forward must include decolonial approaches to technology, environmental justice and educational practices that empower rather than extract – challenges that will require continued critical engagement from researchers, educators, corporations and activists alike.
*Sarah Horrocks has significant experience in leading powerful professional development for teachers and supporting schools in using digital technologies. She has delivered successful and impactful education projects, including a schools’ digital strategy for Camden Learning, Learning Bridges a remote learning solution for UNICEF in Jordan, TechPathways London for the London Mayor’s Digital Talent programme. Sarah was director of the multi-award-winning Connected Learning Centre for 16 years. She continues to work with European municipalities devising and supporting digital learning Erasmus projects. Sarah has authored several research papers including educational blogs and their effects on pupils’ writing and technology-supported professional development for teachers. Sarah is a regular keynote presenter at the BETT Show in London. Sarah is a guest lecturer at UCL, Institute of Education.
*Michelle Pauli is an experienced researcher, writer, and editor specialising in the education sector, demonstrated by her extensive work with institutions like Jisc, Nesta, LSE and the Cabinet Office producing reports on topics such as digital learning and assessment, including publications such as “Learning and Teaching Reimagined” report. Prior to her consultancy, she spent 16 years at the Guardian, where she was an award-winning writer and editor, and has also held sub-editing roles at The Times, The Sunday Times, and The Independent.
VIDEO LINKS TO SEMINAR TALKS:
- David Buckingham (Honorary Professor IOE, UCL) – The End of Information: Media and Education in a ‘Post-Truth’ Age
- Ana Valdivia (Oxford Internet Institute) – The supply chain capitalism of AI: a call to (re)think algorithmic harms and resistance through environmental lens (there is no video for this talk but here is Ana’s article on the subject – Valdivia, A. (2024). The supply chain capitalism of AI: a call to (re)think algorithmic harms and resistance through environmental lens. Information, Communication & Society, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2420021
- Caroline Pelletier (IOE, UCL) – How does financing shape tech design in education?
- Kambale Musavali (Human rights activist and technologist) – The Hidden Cost of Tech and AI: Human and Environmental Impact in the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Haira Gandolfi & Haley Perkins (University of Cambridge) – Extractivism, (neo)colonialism and technoscience in the Global South: environmental injustices and education