On dead classrooms

Abstract

The dead internet theory postulates that online communication is often bots talking to other bots. English teacher John D. Duffy suggests that the use of artificial intelligence in school could lead to a similar phenomenon: dead classrooms. AI promises to make work and school more efficient by enabling users to complete tasks more quickly, but a focus on efficiency can reduce or eliminate the human struggle that makes learning happen. Classrooms without struggle become dead classrooms, where a lot appears to be getting done, but there’s little actual learning. He urges educators to preserve and protect the slow, uncertain, deeply human process of learning.