May 2024 finds us eighteen months on since the release into the wild of unregulated generative AI models and their chatbot front-ends. While Higher Education (HE) has been playing catch-up in terms of policy and regulation (e.g. Russell Group 2023, Conrad 2023, EU 2022), those who work in higher education have been grappling with the consequences for learning, teaching, assessment, and research on the ground. Between the hype from big tech on the one hand, and a sense of despair on the other, alternative, critical and ethical activities have begun to emerge (Bender et al., 2021; Bozkurt, A. et al., 2023; Conrad, 2023; Fischer et al., 2023; Nerantzi et al., 2023; Rahm, 2023). This workshop explores these alternatives both as concept and method.
The new computational approaches-so far confined to the largest and most capital-intensive tech companies-can generate human-like content at an unprecedented speed and scale. As an alternative, we will produce knowledge at a human speed and scale, through creative collaborations in a range of media, including generated, 'made' and found contents. Using the definition of networked learning as an activity of relational trust through "convivial technologies"(Dohn et al., 2023), our goal is not only to understand and critique computational generativity, but to reconnect with 'generation' as a curious, expansive and generous practice in education.
The workshop is a collective make-athon, where participants will respond creatively to provocations with, against and around generative AI. Making materials will be provided in place and online, and participants will also be encouraged to find and generate their own. This will help participants to reflect collectively and respond critically to the emerging ethical, epistemological and relational challenges of generative AI.
Participants will be provided with 5-minute multi-modal provocations from the four facilitators on the topic of generativity in education. Topics from our own research and practices will inform the provocations, including:
• Social justice and rights-based challenges with generative AI
• Generative AI platform capitalism and labour in HE
• Feminist pedagogies and generative AI in HE
• Resistance to generative AI in HE
• Open education practices and generative AI
As facilitators of this workshop, we acknowledge our own positionalities, values and perspectives, and we encourage participants to respond from their own. We look forward to creating together a rich tapestry of multiple understandings on this complex topic.
Citation
Drumm, L., Beetham, H., Cronin, C., & McIlwhan, R. (2024, May). Generating AI Alternatives: collaborating and creating intersections. Presented at Fourteenth International Conference on Networked Learning, University of Malta, Valetta, Malta
Presentation Conference Type
Conference Paper (published)
Conference Name
Fourteenth International Conference on Networked Learning
Start Date
May 15, 2024
End Date
May 17, 2024
Acceptance Date
Jan 23, 2024
Online Publication Date
May 6, 2024
Publication Date
May 6, 2024
Deposit Date
May 24, 2024
Publicly Available Date
May 27, 2024
Peer Reviewed
Peer Reviewed
Volume
2024
Book Title
Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Conference on Networked Learning
