3 ways schools can teach students to shape AI — not just survive it, Oxford professor says (www.businessinsider.com)

Oxford Internet Institute professor Rebecca Eynon argues schools must teach students to shape AI — not just adapt to it — urging a proactive curriculum built on criticality, inclusion and shared responsibility. Her research with the Towards Equity-Focused EdTech project found many young people lack basic digital skills and teachers are uncertain how to teach digital literacy, so Eynon calls for education that goes beyond tool use and coding to cultivate informed, civic-minded engagement with technology. She recommends three practical shifts: teach criticality by unpacking how algorithms, data economies and platform incentives create bias and misinformation; design for inclusion through hands-on projects that surface social injustices in AI and let students prototype community-serving tools; and distribute responsibility so governance, regulation and ethical remediation aren’t left solely to youth. For the AI/ML community this matters because early education shapes future users, designers and decision-makers: embedding algorithmic literacy and participatory design across subjects can reduce harm, improve fairness, and produce a more diverse, civically engaged technical workforce — while pushing policymakers and companies to share accountability for AI’s societal impacts.