Battle lines being drawn

A roll call of those in US education aligning with technofascism

Damn, was it something I said?

I swear to you, my plan this week was to write a mostly technical essay about recent AI developments. I’ve been subjecting y’all to a fair bit of politics (and theology) lately, and I suspect a return to my basic theme of understanding human cognition and generative AI might be a welcome relief.

Well sorry, that’s gonna have to wait, because last week the Trump Administration fired off another salvo of authoritarian Executive Orders, including one titled “Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth." And now we have a clear line of demarcation in the technofascist civil war being fought in America, with public education squarely at the battlefront.

I’ll get back to that momentarily, but first, what’s in the EO, you ask? Something something AI public-private partnerships, something something more AI research, something something AI apprenticeships and commissions. Whatever. As Audrey Watters clocked immediately, it’s all bullshit. A hallmark of fascism is its incoherency. Trump and Musk and their minions have gutted the (very public) Department of Education, slashed scientific research across the board, and destroyed existing policy efforts that were designed to foster apprenticeships. And all this is happening against a backdrop of American re-segregation, where even discussing our history of white supremacy—to say nothing of redressing it—is forbidden.

Watters again: “If we can't talk about ‘bias,’ and if we don't have civil rights protections, then what exactly do supporters of AI think is going to happen with the automated instruction and algorithmic decision-making?!”

And this whole effort is dripping with hypocrisy. Consider Danaé Metaxa, a computer scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, who’s been conducting research on fostering digital AI literacy by having students build and audit their own generative AI models (related research here). His federally funded research grant was terminated over the weekend, three days after the Trump Administration EO was promulgated. To repeat: A hallmark of fascism is its incoherency. Need I remind you that this Administration has issued a whopping 137 Executive Orders this year, all with the broad aim of governing by royal decree, and thereby entrenching authoritarianism while undermining the separation of powers that once formed the backbone of American democracy?

In normal times, political compromise is necessary to reach policy consensus. I get it. But you don’t get to pick and choose with fascism. I’m sorry, you don’t. Either you are willing to collaborate and benefit from the authoritarian regime—which makes you a fascist—or you fight back. It’s a choice you have to make. Today. Right now.

So what choices are organizations and individuals in the edu-technological ecosphere making? It’s time for a brief roll call.

Code dot org

Code.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing computer science education and one that (it claims) values “equity, access, and opportunity” and “thinking big and acting holistically.” Thinking in big and holistic fashion, Code.org has made its choice: It will stand shoulder to shoulder with the Trump Administration on AI policy. It will stand with technofascism:

Do you really want to celebrate your “movement” being validated by the Trump Administration?

Vera Cubero (NC DPI)

Vera Cubero is an employee of North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction where she oversees efforts within that state to promote AI in schools, and she’s also someone who’s platformed regularly at national conferences on AI—she is spreading the AI gospel as far and wide as she can. She’s excited by the Trump Administration’s EO and eager to advance technofascism:

You think this isn’t political?

The Learning Agency

The Learning Agency is a nonprofit organization that purports to be at the “forefront of educational innovation.” A blog post written by its policy director, Tasha Hensley, frames the Trump Administration’s EO as “holding promise” for education:

Perhaps you should dwell on that confusion rather than setting it aside?

EdTech Leaders Alliance

The EdTech Leaders Alliance is“an advocacy group focused on empowering educators with the knowledge and skills required to transform education through technology.” Stacy Hawthorne, the executive director of this effort, is optimistic about the coming opportunities to collaborate with the Trump Administration:

You are broadly optimistic about “workforce alignment” in the era of DOGE?

ISTE+ACSD

ISTE+ACSD is a large education organization that “through our thought leadership, inspiring events, and impactful professional development” is “reimagining learning for both students and educators.” Joseph South, the organization’s “chief innovation officer” and a former Obama Administration official, is encouraged by the Trump Administration’s efforts on AI:

Does you really think more money will make any of this ok?

aiEDU

aiEDU is an organization dedicated to ensuring “all students are ready to live, work, and thrive in a world where AI is everywhere.” Last year, I debated CEO Alex Kotran about this future portends, and we’ve remained friendly since. Nonetheless, Kotran appears enthusiastic that the Trump Administration EO may leverage the federal government as a positive driver of the “AI movement” across our education system:

Do you really want philanthropy, state government, and others to “orient” around the priorities of Trump?

AI for Education

AI for Education is ostensibly devoted to “empowering educators and academic institutions through responsible AI adoption and training.” (We’ve previously looked at the guidance this organization has promulgated in partnership with Chicago Public Schools.) On its Facebook page, it’s expressed enthusiasm for the Administration’s focus on “AI literacy,” albeit with some technical questions about implementation, while also cheering the ongoing “proliferation of GenAI in our society and schools”:

Do you ever wonder if being AI literate might mean resisting technofascism?

---

I’ll stop here. I need to stop, as I feel sick to my stomach. Why is it so hard for people to see what is plainly happening in America right now? Perhaps it’s because we’re dealing with something we’ve never experienced before. The bedrock principle of cognitive science is that we understand new ideas based on those we already know. Fascism isn’t new, but American technofascism lacks historical precedent, and perhaps we simply lack the collective background knowledge we need to see what’s in front of our face.

Or maybe we pretend we don’t see, so we turn our head.

I haven’t abandoned all hope. Last week I found this extraordinary speech from Carole Cadwalladr, a journalist who helped break the Cambridge Analytica story years ago (and suffered dramatic consequence for doing so). Cadwalladr is not blind to what’s happening, she sees exactly what I see, only she frames it with more eloquence and power than I am capable of:

"There is an alignment of interests, that runs from through Silicon Valley to what is now a coming autocracy. It's the type of power that the world has never seen before. We are already living inside the architecture of totalitarianism…Politics is downstream from culture. But culture is just what's next on your phone. And that's AI. Culture is AI now. Politics is technology now."

We are already living within the architecture of technofascism. It’s coming for our schools, our teachers, our students. In fact, it’s already broken through the gates, and is now devouring the shared foundation of democracy and public education in this country.

What will you do to fight back? Or will you collaborate? And if the latter, I must ask:

How will you live with yourself?