Critical education, generative artificial intelligence and the tyranny of freedom: a critique of modern 'technocracy'

Costa, Cristina; Murphy, Mark

Abstract

This paper provides a critical analysis of Gen-AI technologies in relation to critical education, with the purpose of raising questions regarding their role as the liberators of learning. Much has already been written about Gen-AI technologies, especially with the rise of ChatGPT, but little has been said regarding its purported temporal efficiency as a tool of intellectual freedom. This paper casts doubt on the value of this efficiency, delivering a critique of Gen-AI technological freedom as a dubious virtue at best, a form of freedom that offers little to the development of critical learning and reasoning capacities. This critique is grounded in a Freirean approach to critical education, one that understands the concept of learner freedom or learner autonomy, as Freire put it, as a socially constructed and collective endeavour. The paper outlines this position by discussing key elements of Freire’s thinking, including notions of problematisation, critical dialogue and acts of knowing. The paper concludes by suggesting potential alternatives to what Freire called the ‘tyranny of freedom’ in the application of educational technologies.

Citation

Costa, C., & Murphy, M. (online). Critical education, generative artificial intelligence and the tyranny of freedom: a critique of modern 'technocracy'. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2025.2547728

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 9, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Aug 25, 2025
• Deposit Date: May 9, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 25, 2025
• Journal: Technology, Pedagogy and Education
• Print ISSN: 1475-939X
• Electronic ISSN: 1747-5139
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2025.2547728
• Keywords: Gen-AI, Learner Autonomy, Freedom
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3936936