GenAI for Critical Analysis: Practical Tools, Cognitive Offloading and Human Agency
I’m looking forward to LAK24 in Kyoto next month. In response to the GenAI workshop call for practical examples and experiences of GenAI, this short paper shares some examples from the last tumultuous year, with some brief reflections…
Buckingham Shum, S. (2024). Generative AI for Critical Analysis: Practical Tools, Cognitive Offloading, and Human Agency. In Joint Proceedings of LAK 2024 Workshops, co-located with 14th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference, March 18-22, 2024, Kyoto, pp. 205-213. https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3667/GenAILA-paper4.pdf
Abstract: Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is now capable of performing tasks that we have considered intellectually demanding. There are justified concerns that this will undermine the agency of both educators and students, if tools are poorly designed, poorly used, or imposed — with consequences for education and the future of work. This short paper contributes practical examples pointing the potential for GenAI to promote critical analysis as part of intellectually demanding tasks, by both students and educators. However, this depends on appropriate usage. The paper then briefly discusses how we may balance the benefits and risks of human cognitive offloading to AI, as a perspective on human agency.
