Dr Sam Illingworth will help you slow down AI.

Thanks so much Sam - I've learned SO MUCH from you in BOTH this course and SLOW... I'm really sorry that I wasn't well and couldn't attend the live sessions, and will be reviewing them over time to learn more. I will also complete the final project for Week 4, and don't expect any feedback or comments from you or anyone else - as this course is done! MANY Thanks again, and will DM you on Substack... My email is gailbrown@designedlearning.com.au And I am going to design some lessons for Learning with AI, for Grade 5-6 students, which I will DM and maybe ask your advice if that;s OK? Best always Gail

We need more onteractions like this. Also found the Maveb Ui easy to use even on my phone. Anything with Sam is worth it.

I absolutely loved Sam Illingworth Critical AI Literacy: When to Use AI and When to Leave It the Hell Alone. I’m now “slowly” working my way through the Slow AI curriculum, and I can honestly say this course has been priceless in shaping the founding principles of the AI Advantage project that I am launching in my School. Sam has been incredibly approachable throughout, and I’ve really enjoyed his teaching style. It’s actually been a while since I properly engaged with taught content, and this course reminded me how much I’ve missed learning in this way. What I particularly valued was how the course shone a light on aspects of AI that I simply hadn’t considered before. Exploring how people use AI as a companion, the compassion illusion it can create, anthropomorphism, and the ways in which our relationships with AI are developing gave me plenty to think about. Alongside this, the course revisited areas I am familiar with, but gave me the time and space to interrogate them from different perspectives and think more critically about what responsible and meaningful AI use actually looks like. For me, that is what made the course so valuable. It wasn’t simply about learning how to use AI. It encouraged me to think much more carefully about whether we should use it, why we are using it, and what might be lost when we do. Five stars all round. ⭐️

Sam Illingworth is a thought leader in what can officially be considered the Slow AI Movement, which should be how we all approach AI. This material is so important and helps you look beyond the smokescreen of media and tech company hype to understand how "AI" works in every way. Whether you're an enthusiast or skeptic, or something in between, Going Slow means your use is more intentional and/or you know when and why to "leave it the h**l alone". This course was just great, I will sign up for anything Dr. Illingworth offers.

I usually avoid signing up for courses because I worry I'll be too busy to attend seminars or complete assignments. I am happy to report that my intuition to take this one proved correct. It is well-designed for busy learners. The LMS is clean and intuitive, the professor checks in regularly without being intrusive, and the readings, lessons, sessions, assignments, and feedback are all perfectly bite-sized. You truly feel like you're learning something you can contribute to the conversation and bring to others. I took the course because I follow the Slow AI Substack. So much is happening in AI that it's impossible not to feel overwhelmed, but critical AI literacy is the professor's main area of teaching and research, so he does keep up. What he presents feels trustworthy to my academic mind, because his aim is understanding, not selling something. Everything about the course has a measured quality, though I'll admit the readings and reflection prompts for the last session actually kept my anxious mind in full gear one night. Our learning community felt like a haven amid the tumultuous waves of this AI tsunami. But rather than a total retreat, there was quiet urgency present when we gathered from time zones all over the world, a sense that you're actually doing something, not just watching the wave pass by. It provides a human anchor point to reorient by. I learned a lot about my own use of AI in my admin work and my scholarship, and I believe I can now discern it more comfortably. I like that I can engage these tools without either uncritical enthusiasm or reactive suspicion. I'm all for anything that helps develop practical wisdom. As this loud, surging AI phenomenon becomes ubiquitous, practical wisdom is necessary if I want to keep using the internet at all.