Innovation in Language Learning

This contribution casts a critical perspective on the overwhelming spread of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools and applications throughout society. This AI hype has gripped educational institutions, business leaders, and political decision makers alike, so that voicing scepticism, concern, or disbelief almost amounts to heresy, and AI critics are faced with accusations of backwardness, technophobia, or conservatism. Yet it is more important than ever to warn of the dark sides of AI already known and potential future threats more difficult to discern. Higher education in particular has a responsibility to question the blind and naïve embracement of AI as the saviour of modern work life. In the end, university graduates need to be independent professionals with critical thinking skills to form, develop, and protect democratic societies. It is the aim of this contribution to hone undergraduate students’ critical thinking skills by drawing their attention to negative aspects of AI and discussing its impacts on society, in the sense that students are trained in estimating the consequences of technological innovation on democracy, private life, and society.