06-21-2026, 11:10 AM
The role of the University is to resist AI
BY Dan McQuillan
Summary
Dan McQuillan’s seminar “The role of the University is to resist AI” argues that universities should not simply accept artificial intelligence as an inevitable future technology, but should critically examine its social, political, environmental, and educational consequences.
Drawing on Ivan Illich’s ideas from Tools for Conviviality, McQuillan presents AI as not only a technical tool but also a system shaped by institutions, capital, data, and power. He criticizes the growing use of AI in education, arguing that it can weaken independent thinking, creativity, and human relationships by replacing learning processes with automated systems.
Instead, he proposes that universities should encourage critical reflection, democratic control of technology, and collective discussion about how AI should be designed and used. The seminar calls for a form of “technopolitical resistance” that protects education as a space for imagination, social connection, and human judgment rather than allowing technology to determine the future of learning.
ARTICLE
BY Dan McQuillan
Summary
Dan McQuillan’s seminar “The role of the University is to resist AI” argues that universities should not simply accept artificial intelligence as an inevitable future technology, but should critically examine its social, political, environmental, and educational consequences.
Drawing on Ivan Illich’s ideas from Tools for Conviviality, McQuillan presents AI as not only a technical tool but also a system shaped by institutions, capital, data, and power. He criticizes the growing use of AI in education, arguing that it can weaken independent thinking, creativity, and human relationships by replacing learning processes with automated systems.
Instead, he proposes that universities should encourage critical reflection, democratic control of technology, and collective discussion about how AI should be designed and used. The seminar calls for a form of “technopolitical resistance” that protects education as a space for imagination, social connection, and human judgment rather than allowing technology to determine the future of learning.
ARTICLE
┌────────────────────────────────┐
│ KONSTANTINOS MICHAILIDIS │
└────────────────────────────────┘
│ KONSTANTINOS MICHAILIDIS │
└────────────────────────────────┘