Notes for a critical analysis of Machine Learning in education

Artificial Intelligence is without doubt a topic deserving serious consideration and scholarly attention, but its impact on education is still rather unclear. It feels timely to begin a critical conversation, while keeping in mind how marginal AI may still be for the day-to-day business of education. As critical education researchers we find ourselves gazing more and more into the near or even the far future, trying to challenge the narratives of disruption and innovation that inspire actual policies and drive investments in various'cutting-edge' areas of educational technology. While future-gazing may help us understand the trajectory of modern education, it is imperative to remain within clear methodological parameters. Some of my recent work (with Ben Williamson) focused on the so-called'social life' of learning analytics, during which we tried to apply a methodological approach based on three premises: Recent trends in economic sociology were a source of inspiration, in particular critical analyses at the intersection of material semiotics and performativity.