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Paper short abstract

Rushed AI adoption in education systems ignores the technical gap in standard education. Critical AI literacy must draw on vocational training models and promote an active engagement with functionality by shifting the focus from simple use to critical engagement with concrete technical operations.

Paper long abstract

Innovations in the field of AI have motivated a profound reappraisal of contemporary education systems. With AI technologies being poised to redefine future workforce competencies, policymakers have identified AI literacy as a strategic priority and the education sector as its key enabler. However, the push for AI adoption marking recent policy initiatives and the rush to address AI literacy skills has led to the uncritical incorporation of AI-based EdTech into classrooms, e.g., Estonia’s nationwide deal with OpenAI. The quest for pace in AI integration has not only subjected students to a risky experiment, but also sidesteps one major factor at the basis of the current competency gap: the absence of technical education in standard education curriculum.

Drawing on approaches to technology education and on experiential learning theories, this contribution posits that the challenges brought about by AI technologies should prompt a broader reflection on the role of technics in education. It argues that traditional approaches to vocational learning can provide important models and insights on how to develop critical AI literacy skills among students, which promote an active engagement with functionality and not merely AI use. Rather than being understood as an exceptional technology, AI should be placed in the context of its techno-historical evolution, alongside early paleolithic tools and industrial machinery. In this manner, one can not only deflate AI as a panacea but bring concreteness and materiality to the study of algorithmic and digitally encoded technical operations, building critical AI pedagogies.

technology education, vocational training, experiential learning, technicity