Civic education and AI

By Sennay Ghebreab, Siddharth de Souza, Saumya Varma, Siddhi Gupta, and Paul Verhagen

Introduction 

AI is no longer a distant concept; in the span of a few decades, it has become embedded in our daily lives, shaping how we think, interact, work, and make decisions. There is no denying that AI is here to stay - it will continue to shape the future trajectory of human evolution and civilisations. But we are not simply passengers, swept up in some accelerating current of change. We have agency, autonomy, and responsibility to make active decisions about how we relate to technologies like AI.

With the increasing deployment of AI in every part of our lives, it becomes critical to understand how this technology works, how it influences the decisions and choices we make, and how we can take action to ensure that AI works for our collective benefit, and benefits everyone, whether that be people, nature, or the planet as a whole. 

The Civic AI website, developed by Civic AI Lab (at the University of Amsterdam) and Justice Adda (a law and design social venture in India), is designed to encourage conversations around AI that facilitate broader awareness, literacy, as well as action about how individuals and communities can shape AI and not only be shaped by AI. It is designed to empower people to study, reflect as well as build communities around how to engage with AI. Through this approach, we look at building AI democratically such that it is for the people, with the people and by the people, and to challenge the concentration of power that is replete in the AI industry, and to return it to the public domain. This is to ensure that AI on the one hand can be innovated and developed, and on the other hand, critiqued and challenged.

Since AI and technology are ever changing, this website is designed as a living document that is responsive to changes in technological developments, regulatory protections, as well as resistance strategies. We have included resources and exercises that engage with thinking about AI across different contexts from the global Majority, and beyond the global North. This platform is more than just a resource; it is a space for dialogue, interrogation, and co-creation. It can be used by anyone (across any age-group) who is interested in thinking and shaping discussions on AI, and we welcome suggestions and ideas on further resources we can include for this project.

With this new learning resource on AI, we are interested in building a resource that requires no prior expertise, yet also offers insights for those who are more knowledgeable about AI. For this project, we chose not to go with a narrow audience, but instead, focus on how people in different locations, at home, in school, at work, would interact with AI. With the proliferation in AI, there is a rapid increase in the quantity of learning material that deals with AI, but there is repetition and circularity in that content. With this in mind, we wanted to build a learning experience that did not require expertise, and demystified AI in engaging ways.

Exploring AI: Being, Knowing, and Doing

As we engage with AI, it is essential to pause and reflect on what it means to exist alongside intelligent systems, how we understand them, and what actions we can take to shape their role in our world. Sennay Ghebreab uses the metaphor of the mirror to describe AI, describing how the mirror reflects the society around us, with its frictions, as well as commonalities. The AI mirror is not a flat mirror however, it's a distorting one where some parts seem smaller and others larger than in real life. This website offers a structured approach to recognising, learning about, and engaging with AI through ten modules, organised under three interconnected themes: Being, Knowing, and Doing.

‘Being’ encourages self-reflection on recognising AI in the world around us and making accurate assessments of how AI influences our identities, behaviours, and experiences. 

‘Knowing’ provides a deeper understanding of AI — its historical evolution, present capabilities, and its far-reaching implications for the future. It equips us with the knowledge necessary to critically assess the power and limitations of these systems.

Finally, ‘Doing’ urges us to move beyond passive acceptance, challenging us to actively shape AI’s trajectory, and as a consequence, the trajectory of human civilisation. It asks: How do we ensure AI aligns with our collective values? How can we engage in co-production to build systems that serve society ethically and equitably?

Through these three lenses — Being, Knowing, and Doing — we invite you to explore AI not just as a technological phenomenon but as a deeply human and societal one.

Visualising AI

The mirror as an analogy guided our visual moodboard for the website. It allowed us to look at AI with its obscurity and technical imagination in a new light. The mirror in its different forms ties the identity together as it becomes a full-length mirror in the bedroom, a piece of diamond, a pocket mirror, an imaginary portal and so on. It provides new meanings and ways in which we interpret technology that is supposed to be intelligent, like me and you. AI is constantly pitted against human skill, labour, emotion and intelligence. In using the different forms of the mirror we hoped to give AI a new visual metaphor that gives us, the learners, a new point of entry into this conversation, which was not just technical. We wanted to resist making it look like conventional notions of technology using wires, circuits, robots and instead hoped to link it to something that captures this constant comparison between human and the machine. Fundamental questions around AI are rarely technical; rather they are social, political, and human. We wanted to create a learning experience that addressed this anxiety, and hence the visual direction pursued this approach.

Organisation of the Modules

Under the three lenses described above, we have developed ten educational modules covering foundational concepts, real-world applications, ethical considerations, and societal impacts. Each of the modules serves a different purpose — some focus on knowledge acquisition, while others emphasise critical thinking and awareness. 

The first set of modules focuses on foundational AI concepts, introducing learners to AI’s basic definition, history, and practical emergence in daily life. These modules establish a strong base for understanding how AI works, what makes it "intelligent," and how it integrates into digital ecosystems. For example, Module 1, "What is AI?", explains AI's goal of replicating human intelligence, while Module 2, "How does AI emerge in my daily life?" highlights how AI-driven technologies are already embedded in our routines, from navigation apps to personalised recommendations. Module 5, “About AI”, provides a historical overview of how human society has been engaging with the concept of AI for centuries and what developments have brought us to the present-day status of technology. In order to ascertain where we are headed, it is important to know how we arrived here.

Another major theme in AI education is its benefits and risks. Modules like Module 3,  "How can AI benefit me?", emphasise AI’s positive contributions to science, healthcare, and personal convenience. Conversely, Module 4, "Should we be cautious about AI?", raises concerns about AI’s potential for bias, misinformation, and privacy violations. These contrasting perspectives encourage learners to think critically about AI’s dual nature, as both a tool for progress and a technology that requires careful oversight. This theme is particularly relevant for those interested in the ethical and policy implications of AI.

AI education must also address its political, economic, and environmental impact. Modules like Module 6, "Designing AI", and Module 7, "What do we pay for AI?", explore who controls AI development, how AI is monetised, and the hidden costs associated with AI training and deployment. These discussions highlight the role of big tech, digital power structures, and sustainability concerns, fostering a deeper awareness of AI’s broader societal consequences. Module 8, “How can I be more conscious of choices involving AI?” ties many of the themes in preceding modules, urging learners to engage with AI not just as passive consumers but as informed participants who can shape its development and use.

Finally, Modules 9 and 10, are calls to action - to propel collective thinking and action around how we as a society envision the role of AI in shaping our future and taking steps towards realising this vision. 

Each module introduces the context, rationale, overview as well as learning outcomes and how modules interact with each other. The modules also have different spaces for reflection. These are a study room which includes information from existing resources in the forms of articles, videos, or interactive content. The reflection room includes information which encourages contemplation about the materials offered in each module, and guides on how to engage with it, and finally an activity room which offers ideas for ways in which to think individually or as a group, on working with AI.

Each module in the website is also assigned a level. The levels —Learner, Explorer, and Innovator — have been designed to reflect your growing familiarity and engagement with AI as you progress through the modules. You begin as a Learner, where you are introduced to AI concepts without requiring any prior knowledge. As you gain confidence, you transition to the Explorer level, where you engage with real-world applications and understand AI’s impact more deeply. Finally, you reach the Innovator level, where you actively contribute to AI-related discussions in your community, workplace, or personal spaces. 

While the levels are a useful guide to pace your learning, each of our modules end with a list of other modules that connect with them. We therefore encourage you to explore the website in a fluid and intuitive manner, rather than a linear progression - jump back and forth across the modules, lenses and levels, based on where your curiosity and investigative questions lead you! 

Feedback 

As mentioned, this website is a living document, and as AI changes our lives new and interesting questions and concerns might pop up. We are very interested in what you experience, adapt, challenge, and maybe resist AI! Any feedback you have is welcome, and we will try to update the website periodically to make sure it's reflecting the now and not the past.

We invite you to please leave any comments you may have, negative or positive, to help us in this project. Returning to AI as a mirror, your feedback is a reflection of you, and we invite you to share it!

Sennay Ghebreab is a professor of Socially Intelligent Artificial Intelligence at the University of Amsterdam. He is the founder and scientific director of the Civic AI Lab, a project that aims to develop technology that reduces inequality and promotes equal opportunity. He also strives to bridge the gap between society and academia, politics and community, and science and lived experience.

Siddharth de Souza is founder of Justice Adda and Assistant Professor of AI and Society at the University of Warwick.

Saumya Varma is Senior Consultant for Legislative and Policy Research at Justice Adda and works in the strategic policy advisory space.

Siddhi Gupta is partner at Justice Adda Assistant Professor at Srishti Manipal of Art, Design and Technology

Paul Verhagen is the strategic liaison at the Civic AI Lab. His work is centered on connecting public institutions like governments and municipalities with research and academia. He also focused on translating insights from academic research for a broader public, through media and community engagement.