Infantilising education through risk-averse educational technologies of calculability: a critical essay

Hillman, Velislava and Couldry, Nick ORCID: 0000-0001-8233-3287 (2025) Infantilising education through risk-averse educational technologies of calculability: a critical essay. British Journal of Sociology of Education. ISSN 0142-5692 (In Press)

Text (HILLMAN AND COULDRY INFANTILISING EDUCATION BRITISH J OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION (002)) - Accepted Version Pending embargo until 1 January 2100. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (382kB)

Abstract

This paper describes a paradox in education where AI-driven technologies foster risk-averse learning while contributing to heightened global uncertainties. We highlight how the promises of AI promote risk-aversion at the individual level through personalised learning while inducing unpredictable ‘superrisks’ at the societal level, affecting areas like the labour market, environment, societal relations. This paradox exposes gaps in educational policies that focus on integrating AI, ultimately legitimating AI-defined risks and needs (e.g., data literacy, coding) over broader societal risks (e.g., gender inequality, climate). We contend that AI’s reductive nature infantilises learners by reducing them to objects within calculable frameworks, stripping away opportunities to engage with and learn to manage real-world complexities. We argue for policy and educational paradigm shift that aims to reconnect education with the world, where students learn to navigate and embrace real-world risks directly, aligning with Hannah Arendt’s vision of taking responsibility for the world we inhabit.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Media and Communications
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science T Technology H Social Sciences
Date Deposited:	10 Jun 2025 10:51
Last Modified:	10 Jun 2025 10:54
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/128336

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