In this episode I meet with the editors of Higher Education for Good to discuss how generative AI may be changing the prospects for an equitable and socially-just system of higher education. I ask how they were able to bring an ethic of care to the work of editing, in an academic publishing landscape that values speed, scale and reach. We look at the particular challenges of producing an audio version of the book, and explore the politics of the different options, from AI voices to personal voice-prints to reading aloud. This turns out to be a powerful lens for viewing the prospects of alternative technological futures. While Cath and Laura don’t shy away from the inequities of big tech infrastructures, I always come away from a conversation with them feeling hopeful and enriched.
Links
Catherine’s home page: https://catherinecronin.net/
Laura’s blog: https://czernie.weebly.com/
Higher Education for Good: Teaching and Learning Futures. The book is freely and openly available to read or to download from the publisher, OpenBook: https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0363
Feminist Special Issue of Learning, Media and Technology journal (2022): the open version from FemEdTech https://femedtech.net/special-issue-of-learning-media-technology-feminist-perspectives-on-learning-media-and-educational-technology/
Helen’s review of HE4G in Postdigital Science and Education (2024): Where is the University worth fighting for? https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42438-024-00511-2
Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism (referenced by Helen) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalist_Realism
Walter Ong’s Orality and Literacy: the Technologizing of the Word (referenced by Catherine and Helen) https://monoskop.org/images/d/db/Ong_Walter_J_Orality_and_Literacy_2nd_ed.pdf
Eddie Glaude Begin Again (referenced by Catherine) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begin_Again_(book)
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