The Centre for Social Sciences Research (CSSR) and the  Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa  (IDCPPA) at the University of Cape Town invite you to join us for a lunchtime seminar on 2 June 2026 at 12:45pm. The seminar will be presented by Dr Tim Fowler.

About the Seminar:

AI tutors and Education’s Civic Mission

This paper considers the impact of Al technology, and specifically 'Al tutors', on education both as happening now and as the technology is further integrated into schooling. It argues that increasing reliance on Al poses serious problems for education's civic mission, the training of future liberal democratic citizens. I raise a series of concerns related to key democratic virtues of independence, valuing pluralism and civic loyalty. Al tutors create a dangerous reliance on the part of learners, that they risk flattening diversity of opinion and that they cannot properly convey the moral importance of some aspects of the curriculum. It does not follow that Al must be removed from schools, but the paper prompts reflection on ineliminable role of humans in preparation for democratic citizenship.

Speakers

Tim Fowler is Associate Professor of Political Theory at the University of Bristol and Co-Director of the Centre for Childhoods and Social Justice. His research focusses on the moral dimensions of childhood, family life and educational justice. He is especially interested in how children's rights, wellbeing and agency should shape debates about public policy, parenting, education and democratic participation.

  2 June 2026
  12:45 - 14:00 SAST
  CSSR Seminar Room, 4.29, Robert Leslie Social Sciences Building, UCT

Hosted by the Centre for Social Science Research and the Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa