AI is Not Inevitable: Resistance and Democracy-Building in Public Education

Building on John Dewey’s argument that the purpose of education is to create democratic citizens, we will examine what that means specifically in the age of AI. We will first consider the way that student-facing generative AI poses not just a challenge but a unique threat to public education. How can parents, children, and community members take this moment of critical scrutiny and resistance to the manufactured demand for AI, and ask instead: what do we want to build? What knowledge do we want to co-create? What kind of a society do we want to become?

Kelly Clancy, Ph.D. is a Brooklyn-based writer, educator, editor, and parent with a PhD in political science and 25 years of teaching experience. She is the author of Democracy: A Love Letter and a Guide for Everyone Fighting to Save It and is the owner of Epilogue Editing. The parent of three children in NYC public elementary and middle schools, Kelly sits on the District 20 Community Education Council and is the founder of Parents for AI Caution.

Christiana Zenner, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Theology, Science, and Ethics at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center Campus. An expert on water justice and anti-colonial feminist ethics, Dr. Zenner’s next book, Building a Moral Economy: Water For All, will be published in Fall 2027.

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Host or Publisher New York Society for Ethical Culture