Artificial intelligence: a new grammar or the end of knowledge? Lessons for historians of education

Abstract

This article links artificial intelligence (AI) with the history of education by answering four key questions: (a) What can the history of education teach us about the future of AI in education? (b) How is AI affecting our knowledge about educational histories? (c) How can AI be used in teaching history of education? (d) How can AI be used as a research tool within the academic discipline of history of education?
Our findings reveal the following: (a) AI will not alter the existing «grammar of schooling» if teachers fail to adapt how they students are assessed. Systemic changes are required first for personalized learning to become a possibility; (b) AI can be a valuable tool for acquiring knowledge about the history of education, although it is essential to balance its inductive reasoning with a hypothetical-deductive approach, engage students in critical analysis and continue to seek out primary sources; (c) AI-powered image creators can be used in history of education workshops to enhance the understanding of both AI and educational history as generated through images; (d) Image creators can be used for denotation and connation, as well as to visualize individual school memories or collaboratively construct historical school realities, thus fostering a «living past».