Ben Williamson
@benpatrickwill.bsky.social
Researching data, tech, futures, and biological sciences in education | Senior Lecturer and co-director at the Centre for Research in Digital Education | University of Edinburgh | Editor of Learning, Media and Technology @lmt-journal.bsky.social
Pinned
Knowledge infrastructure crisis: digital democratic deficits and alternative designs for education
The production and circulation of knowledge in education increasingly depends on large-scale digital infrastructures. In this article we provide a critical review of the transformation of the conte...
doi.org
New paper just out on how changing sociotechnical systems of knowledge production and access - platforms, the cloud, AI - pose profound challenges to educational practice and research doi.org/10.1080/0305...
Reposted by Ben Williamson
On the third anniversary of ChatGPT, I aimed to pull back from “AI” as a flowing current of new models, new data centers, new initiatives, “new new new” — and look at it as a product of a specific and unique moment in history. What *was* ChatGPT? A few points in the thread ⬇️
What was ChatGPT? Now nearly three years old, we can look at OpenAI's LLM as a product of its time, optimized ever since to its earliest uses. While this period of deep disorientation and social isolation has been obscured from public memory, it remains embedded within the interface.
What Was ChatGPT?
A Chatbot Optimized for Social Distance
Three years after the launch of ChatGPT, we can finally speak in hindsight about what it was and how it came to be. Its meteoric rise shocked the world, gather...
mail.cyberneticforests.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:28 AM
On the third anniversary of ChatGPT, I aimed to pull back from “AI” as a flowing current of new models, new data centers, new initiatives, “new new new” — and look at it as a product of a specific and unique moment in history. What *was* ChatGPT? A few points in the thread ⬇️
Reposted by Ben Williamson
New article alert in Cambridge Journal of Education: ‘The power of the norm: How schools interpret, use and disclose data’ w Gavin Duffy and @chriszomer
50 free copies here >>>
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/4K3ZN...
50 free copies here >>>
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/4K3ZN...
The power of the norm: how schools interpret, use and disclose education data
While education data is frequently collected and used in schools, critical edtech research has revealed a range of issues and harms for individuals and institutions. In this article, the authors in...
www.tandfonline.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:06 AM
New article alert in Cambridge Journal of Education: ‘The power of the norm: How schools interpret, use and disclose data’ w Gavin Duffy and @chriszomer
50 free copies here >>>
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/4K3ZN...
50 free copies here >>>
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/4K3ZN...
Reposted by Ben Williamson
Even worse -- it's a pyramid scheme. Once you get these certifications, you can aspire to "Join a community of Education Champions." Seems like in-house promotion is an essential part of AI EdTech paradigm. Also seems like a cult.
November 22, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Even worse -- it's a pyramid scheme. Once you get these certifications, you can aspire to "Join a community of Education Champions." Seems like in-house promotion is an essential part of AI EdTech paradigm. Also seems like a cult.
AI in education is obviously not just a technology but something that different groups interpret and construct in various ways. I thought I'd have a go at characterizing them:
November 22, 2025 at 11:13 PM
AI in education is obviously not just a technology but something that different groups interpret and construct in various ways. I thought I'd have a go at characterizing them:
Feeling queasy now I've learned that Google is not only now offering Gemini ambassador certificates to teachers but also awarding students and *children* to be corporate AI mascots. Coercive normalization of commercialized digital education. blog.google/outreach-ini...
November 22, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Feeling queasy now I've learned that Google is not only now offering Gemini ambassador certificates to teachers but also awarding students and *children* to be corporate AI mascots. Coercive normalization of commercialized digital education. blog.google/outreach-ini...
Reposted by Ben Williamson
Oxford Handbook to the End of Academia
November 22, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Oxford Handbook to the End of Academia
Reposted by Ben Williamson
Regret to report that there has been another good linkedin post
November 22, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Regret to report that there has been another good linkedin post
Reposted by Ben Williamson
I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵
The missing heritability question is now (mostly) answered
Not with a bang but with a whimper
theinfinitesimal.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵
Funny, tho a market research co asked me recently about the state of AI in European schools on behalf of a big tech firm. Offered £400 for an hour of my time. I declined stating my suspicion of big tech. They said critical views were key to include. So they want to capitalize on our critique too.
kudos to whoever was responsible for this nice piece of Reddit trolling in response to a finance guy looking for a quick heads-up on how best to understand ed-tech .... "at first this will seem wrong but push through"
@audreywatters.bsky.social
@audreywatters.bsky.social
November 21, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Funny, tho a market research co asked me recently about the state of AI in European schools on behalf of a big tech firm. Offered £400 for an hour of my time. I declined stating my suspicion of big tech. They said critical views were key to include. So they want to capitalize on our critique too.
Some of the fake citations we're spotting in submissions to our journal are pretty convincing - I almost had to go and check I *didn't* write this in 2023:
Williamson, B. (2023). Educational technologies and the new politics of affective governance. Learning, Media and Technology, 48(3), 251–266.
Williamson, B. (2023). Educational technologies and the new politics of affective governance. Learning, Media and Technology, 48(3), 251–266.
November 21, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Some of the fake citations we're spotting in submissions to our journal are pretty convincing - I almost had to go and check I *didn't* write this in 2023:
Williamson, B. (2023). Educational technologies and the new politics of affective governance. Learning, Media and Technology, 48(3), 251–266.
Williamson, B. (2023). Educational technologies and the new politics of affective governance. Learning, Media and Technology, 48(3), 251–266.
Reposted by Ben Williamson
Resisting GenAI and Big Tech in Higher Education - Tuesday 25th Nov, free registration, great panel, big focus on climate justice. Register here: lmula.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
November 21, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Resisting GenAI and Big Tech in Higher Education - Tuesday 25th Nov, free registration, great panel, big focus on climate justice. Register here: lmula.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Reposted by Ben Williamson
There is one more post to be written here, about how AI is now often an austerity technology, inserted into a human process to compensate for the fact that there is just not enough time and money, and many workers are expected to do more and more with less and less.
November 21, 2025 at 7:59 AM
There is one more post to be written here, about how AI is now often an austerity technology, inserted into a human process to compensate for the fact that there is just not enough time and money, and many workers are expected to do more and more with less and less.
Reposted by Ben Williamson
I've said it before and I will say it again many times, people using "AI" to design and deliver 'teaching' to students, to mark their work, and in this case to (!) generate literal voice overs are risking their jobs, and frankly they *should* be at risk if they do this sort of thing:
‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:11 PM
I've said it before and I will say it again many times, people using "AI" to design and deliver 'teaching' to students, to mark their work, and in this case to (!) generate literal voice overs are risking their jobs, and frankly they *should* be at risk if they do this sort of thing:
Reposted by Ben Williamson
Cal State quite literally using chatbots in their efforts to suppress student unionization: edsource.org/2025/ai-assi...
Cal State says staff AI use ‘resulted in errors’ in legal filing
An administrative law judge said a document filed by Cal State had "all the hallmarks" of AI hallucinations.
edsource.org
November 21, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Cal State quite literally using chatbots in their efforts to suppress student unionization: edsource.org/2025/ai-assi...
Reposted by Ben Williamson
do i have this about right?
university admins claim that they know (somehow) that AI is “the future” and that we have to train students to have the skills to work in environments that (will) require AI, but ...
university admins claim that they know (somehow) that AI is “the future” and that we have to train students to have the skills to work in environments that (will) require AI, but ...
November 20, 2025 at 8:09 PM
do i have this about right?
university admins claim that they know (somehow) that AI is “the future” and that we have to train students to have the skills to work in environments that (will) require AI, but ...
university admins claim that they know (somehow) that AI is “the future” and that we have to train students to have the skills to work in environments that (will) require AI, but ...
5 ways to think about OpenAI in education 🧵
November 20, 2025 at 8:08 PM
5 ways to think about OpenAI in education 🧵
Reposted by Ben Williamson
I know that we knew all this already, but still it makes me furious all over again to see it spelled out. Johnson, Cummings, Hancock, Sunak: all failed the nation so badly, all responsible for the terrible outcome, none suffering any consequences.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...
November 20, 2025 at 5:13 PM
I know that we knew all this already, but still it makes me furious all over again to see it spelled out. Johnson, Cummings, Hancock, Sunak: all failed the nation so badly, all responsible for the terrible outcome, none suffering any consequences.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...
Reposted by Ben Williamson
For decades, scholars have argued education’s hidden curriculum is about disciplining and socializing children as future workers, and they just….tweeted it out
The U.S. Education Department is moving management of K-12 and higher education to the Department of Labor
Is Trump dismantling the Education Department? Not yet. But changes are coming.
The U.S. Education Department is moving management of K-12 and higher education to the Department of Labor and parceling out other core job duties to other agencies. It's the most sweeping effort so f...
www.chalkbeat.org
November 20, 2025 at 4:35 PM
For decades, scholars have argued education’s hidden curriculum is about disciplining and socializing children as future workers, and they just….tweeted it out
Reposted by Ben Williamson
OpenAI Introduces 'ChatGPT for Teachers' to Further Destroy the Minds of Our Youth
OpenAI Introduces 'ChatGPT for Teachers' to Further Destroy the Minds of Our Youth
Soon we can have chatbots grade the work of chatbots.
gizmodo.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:56 PM
OpenAI Introduces 'ChatGPT for Teachers' to Further Destroy the Minds of Our Youth
Reposted by Ben Williamson
"Students at the University of Staffordshire have said they feel “robbed of knowledge and enjoyment” after a course they hoped would launch their digital careers turned out to be taught in large part by AI"
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:32 AM
"Students at the University of Staffordshire have said they feel “robbed of knowledge and enjoyment” after a course they hoped would launch their digital careers turned out to be taught in large part by AI"
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Reposted by Ben Williamson
We’re often asked whether we’re optimistic or pessimistic about technologies. That’s the wrong question. If any of this matters, we need to stop seeing technology like the weather, to be merely forecasted, and instead see it like politics, to be collectively shaped.
November 16, 2025 at 11:22 AM
We’re often asked whether we’re optimistic or pessimistic about technologies. That’s the wrong question. If any of this matters, we need to stop seeing technology like the weather, to be merely forecasted, and instead see it like politics, to be collectively shaped.
Reposted by Ben Williamson
every large public institution (esp, universities & schools) reliant on big tech infrastructure should take note as the "bursting of the AI bubble" will bring these sectors down with it
do you now see how the likes of Oxford signing contracts with OpenAI was a grave mistake
do you now see how the likes of Oxford signing contracts with OpenAI was a grave mistake
No firm is immune if AI bubble bursts, Google CEO tells BBC reut.rs/43D5Zl4
No firm is immune if AI bubble bursts, Google CEO tells BBC
Alphabet Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said no company would be unscathed if the artificial intelligence boom collapses, as soaring valuations and heavy investment in the sector fuel concerns of a bubble.
reut.rs
November 18, 2025 at 1:06 PM
every large public institution (esp, universities & schools) reliant on big tech infrastructure should take note as the "bursting of the AI bubble" will bring these sectors down with it
do you now see how the likes of Oxford signing contracts with OpenAI was a grave mistake
do you now see how the likes of Oxford signing contracts with OpenAI was a grave mistake
Reposted by Ben Williamson
"Powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o model by default...tests repeatedly showed that the AI toy dropped its guardrails the longer a conversation went on, until hitting rock bottom on incredibly disturbing topics."
AI-Powered Stuffed Animal Pulled From Market After Disturbing Interactions With Children
FoloToy says it's suspended sales of its AI-powered teddy bear after researchers found it gave wildly inappropriate and dangerous answers.
futurism.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:00 AM
"Powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o model by default...tests repeatedly showed that the AI toy dropped its guardrails the longer a conversation went on, until hitting rock bottom on incredibly disturbing topics."
Reposted by Ben Williamson
“When her professor emailed her feedback on an AI-written paper, she refused to open it. She still hasn’t. “It’s wasting his time because he’s editing a fucking machine,” Gwen said. “Whatever he has to say is meaningless to me anyway, because it’s not my writing.”
New feature article from TNJ (nation's best student magazine): Inside Yale’s Quiet Reckoning with AI thenewjournalatyale.com/2025/10/insi...
November 16, 2025 at 5:12 PM
“When her professor emailed her feedback on an AI-written paper, she refused to open it. She still hasn’t. “It’s wasting his time because he’s editing a fucking machine,” Gwen said. “Whatever he has to say is meaningless to me anyway, because it’s not my writing.”
Is "learning science" being appropriated by Big Tech to justify its expansion into education? Absolutely. Here's Microsoft calling the new "Teach" mode of Copilot "learning science" - which means of course an "advanced agent" it will push at schools like it or not.. www.microsoft.com/en-us/educat...
New AI experiences and academic offering for Microsoft 365 Copilot | Microsoft Education Blog
Explore new AI-powered experiences at no additional cost for educators and students—plus an academic offering for Microsoft 365 Copilot.
www.microsoft.com
November 15, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Is "learning science" being appropriated by Big Tech to justify its expansion into education? Absolutely. Here's Microsoft calling the new "Teach" mode of Copilot "learning science" - which means of course an "advanced agent" it will push at schools like it or not.. www.microsoft.com/en-us/educat...