Research project Lifelong learning and science communication in the age of AI: what we (should) learn, and why
Today, AI is repeatedly presented as a technology that will change learning and work in the future. A parallel discourse is that individuals will need to adapt to such a future by educating themselves. But what exactly are we supposed to learn in the ‘fourth education revolution’?
In the so-called ‘fourth education revolution’, citizens will need new skills and new competencies in order to ‘survive and thrive’ in the AI-powered digital future. In the words of Nourkabakhsh and Keating (2019):
"As AI systems are unleashed ‘in the wild’ of our societies, all citizens need better tools to assess and determine best uses and the levels of integration that these machines should occupy in our work and personal spaces"
We identify two pertinent research problems in relation to such prompts. Firstly, research on how to best incorporate AI into formal education is plentiful, but there are virtually no studies addressing how the general citizenry are, or should be, educated about AI - even though the idea of lifelong learning is intrinsic to such requests. Secondly, research on science-public communication about AI, as a form of lifelong learning, could be further developed.
Project description
The idea that media constitute important forms of ‘everyday pedagogies and everyday curricula’ is beginning to take hold (Nicosia & Goldstein, 2017), but while representations of AI in popular culture and in news have been studied, there is little research on science communication and popular science, both communication genres with explicit pedagogical ambitions. From such outlets citizens learn what AI can (and can not) do, but more importantly, they also learn how to ‘be prepared’ (and not worried) for these artifacts and systems before they are implemented on a larger scale (Grusin, 2010; Kirby, 2010). Science communication and popular science are not science fiction - they are not speculation - they are ways to teach the body of citizens about where we are headed, scientifically and pedagogically, which also impacts on how we live our lives now. Paraphrasing Daum (2009, p.328), we claim that, in general, we have not yet examined closely enough how popular science narratives relate to educational anticipations and political ambitions. What we suggest is therefore a three-pronged agenda; firstly to investigate the didactic models of sciencepublic communication about AI, secondly to theorize how such communication shapes the notion of ‘a future-proof and educated citizen’, and thirdly, to study what skills the public anticipate as urgent to develop for a future where AI is ubiquitous.
Leaning on classic didactical communication questions (Wickman, Hamza & Lundegård, 2020; Laswell, 1948), governing logics, and on the anticipations and imaginaries about human skills that citizens themselves express in relation to visions of AI-driven futures, we specifically suggest that the following research questions are of importance:
- In the face of the AI-driven ‘fourth education revolution’, how are popular science and science communication outlets didactically communicating who is supposed to learn what, how, why, and for whose benefit?
- How can we explore, explain and theorize the underlying governing logics of such communication?
- How does the public anticipate the need for reskilling and up-skilling in a society where AI technologies are ubiquitous?
We believe that the answers to these questions are important for identifying both latent and manifest pedagogical and governing purposes that are not given enough attention. That is, the narrative and didactic structures operating in science communication and popular science outlets have implications on social and political definitions, justifications, in- and exclusions, and solution choices, which in turn can hide discrimination or alternative development routes.
Project members
Project managers
Jörgen Behrendtz
Associate Professor
Publications
Publications