Thinking Historically About AI, Education, Democracy, and Social Cohesion with Ace Parsi

In this episode, we are thinking historically about artificial intelligence at the intersection of education, democracy, and social cohesion. Today, July 16th, is AI Appreciation Day. But what does that mean? What should we appreciate? What should we ask further questions about? To explore this topic, Thinking Nation's Executive Director, Zachary Cote, talks with Ace Parsi, Director of Coalition Engagement at iCivics. Ace oversees the engagement of the CivXNow coalition's over 340 members.

Back in the Fall of 2023, Ace led an AI Working Group, in partnership with the organization, the Listen First Project, which Zach was a member of. The group met for several months with the goal of providing guidance to the Civic education field on how to best think about Civics in the age of AI. In conjunction with Civic Learning Week, iCivics published the report, Uncharted Waters: Education, Democracy, and Social Cohesion in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. In this conversation, Zach and Ace talk about that report, but also expand the conversation to talk about the intersection of AI, education, and democracy more broadly. Does "AI Appreciation Day" make sense? Does an appreciation day get at the complexity of AI's place in today's world? These are questions worth asking.

In April 2024, Zach joined the EdSurge podcast with Bill of Rights Institute's Rachel Davison Humphries in an episode titled, "Could AI give Civics Education a Boost?" If this episode of Thinking Historically About was interesting to you, go check that podcast out as well. Lastly, during this process, Zach met with graduate student, Hannah Cecilia Garcia at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who recently finished her MA Thesis on Civic Education in the Age of AI. Her findings will be helpful to anyone wanting more in this space (the above linked is best viewed on a computer!).