OAILL podcast: To AI or not to AI – Emily M. Bender and Andreas Horn

Phil and I are exploring two contrasting? or complementary? perspectives on AI in education by Andreas Horn and Emily M. Bender. How can language educators respond thoughtfully to a technology that is already shaping education. The two texts by Bender and Horn are contributions to a UNESCO (2025) booklet: AI and the future of education: disruptions, dilemmas and directions. Andreas Horn: Rethinking education in the age of Artificial Intelligence is on page 38; Emily M. Bender: We do not have to accept AI (much less GenAI) as inevitable in education follows on page 41.

Emily M. Bender is a professor of Linguistics at the University of Washington. Among many, many other publications, she is the lead author of what people now call the stochastic-parrots paper and co-authored (with Alex Hanna) the book The AI con. How to fight Big Tech’s hype and create the future we want.

Andreas Horn is the VP of AI and Growth at BLP that helps “businesses automate complex work, reduce manual effort, and get time back where it matters most” and a lecturer at ZIGURAT Institute of Technology in Barcelona.

The titles of the two papers indicate the stance the author is taking vis-à-vis (Gen)AI in education. Phil had suggested we both read both papers and use them as the basis for our discussion (I am more of an Emily Bender fan than he is.). Both provide a suitable lens for teacher reflection. Both articles – as well as all others in this booklet – are accessible and genuinely readable by everyone; you don’t have to be a scientist of the caliber of Bender and Horn. I am certainly not. And if you like to read a very accessible, well informed, and critical reflection on AI and GenAI in particular, I would recommend The AI con book. And of course, you are cordially invited to listen to the podcast episode.

And another podcast that is relevant and entertaining … Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 by Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna. This is not on education per se, but there is a lot on language (remember? Bender is a linguist) and on important ethical and socio-economic questions.