Genealogy of Power: Histories of Artificial Intelligence

The Bismarck Seminar on “Histories of Artificial Intelligence: A Genealogy of Power” supports the Sawyer Seminar on the Comparative Study of Cultures. This seminar explores the historical dimensions of artificial intelligence (AI), examining how power structures, cultural influences, and societal priorities have shaped and continue to shape the development and deployment of AI technologies. The project delves into the implications of AI within various cultural contexts, seeking to uncover how power dynamics influence technological advances and their societal impacts. By investigating AI’s historical trajectory, the seminar provides a critical lens on current and future developments, highlighting the role of AI in reinforcing or challenging existing power structures.

One of the most fulfilling aspects of my role is connecting with dedicated individuals supporting teachers and students. I frequently engage with grantees who have been involved in OER initiatives for years, and I value learning from their experiences as their work continues to evolve. This year, as part of a renewed focus on Hewlett’s OER strategy, I have also made a concerted effort to listen to those new to open education, including individuals who may be curious or even skeptical about OER’s potential to address educational challenges. These conversations have helped me discover ways to enhance and strengthen our support for groups advancing open education.

understudies to utilize OER in manners that boost learning. At last, we are meaning to work with networks and instructors to guarantee that each student, regardless of where they live, what they resemble, or how a lot of cash they have, has the office, assets and backing to prevail in the 21st century society and economy. OER is one approach to ensure that entrance to instructional materials are not a boundary to learning, and open instructive practices can exemplify the social and academic backings that reflect responsive guidance. At exactly that point will students consider themselves to be skilled and fit issue solvers.

Across my discussions this year, one consistent theme has emerged: effective teaching and learning objectives should drive OER adoption.

While improving student access to materials has always motivated our efforts, we haven’t always excelled at equipping educators and students to utilize OER in ways that maximize learning. Our goal is to collaborate with communities and educators to ensure that every student—regardless of background, location, or socioeconomic status—has the resources and support they need to thrive in the 21st-century society and economy. OER helps remove barriers to learning, and open educational practices can incorporate the social and academic supports that underpin responsive teaching. Only by ensuring these supports will students come to see themselves as capable problem-solvers.

Strengthening Social and Academic Support Systems

Conversations with colleagues in the field indicate that we have a long journey to fully realize this goal. While we have supported the development of OER content and platforms, access alone is not sufficient. Effective and equitable OER usage requires investing in people, not just resources. Changing teaching culture and practices among educators requires evidence-based strategies that show how, and under what conditions, open educational resources and practices lead to improved outcomes for students. Additionally, we need transparency in our approach to this work, ensuring that any technological foundation for OER, such as “learning analytics,” fosters collaborative, data-driven teaching while protecting student privacy.

Data-Driven Teaching

We are reaching some preliminary conclusions about the challenges in this field, and our task now is to identify how the Hewlett Foundation can uniquely address these challenges.

In a recent internal discussion, my colleagues expressed the most energy around these key questions:

• How can we focus our grantmaking so that our work more intentionally empowers teachers to use open educational resources and practices to enhance student learning?
• How can we increase awareness of open education among teachers who may be unaware of it or may not yet see its value, so they understand its potential to meet their needs and those of their students?
• How can we support K-12 districts and higher education systems to use OER to systematically improve teaching and learning?

I anticipate that these questions will evolve in the coming months, but they provide a valuable framework for our early thinking on objectives and outcomes for the new strategy. They underscore the importance of keeping educators and their needs at the center of our efforts. In K-12 education, for instance, we aim to see more districts adopt and implement OER with tailored professional development for teachers. In postsecondary education in the U.S. and globally, progress would involve greater institutional support for inclusive and innovative classroom practices with OER, such as through teaching and learning centers and libraries.