Data
How all aspects of our lives are being turned into data points to fuel AI, from educational apps to ChatGPT conversations, and the scale of data collection in the GenAI era.
Image: Elise Racine & The Bigger Picture / Better Images of AI / Glitch Binary Abyss II / CC-BY 4.0
Articles
Teaching AI Ethics: Datafication
"Data is the new oil." Datafication describes how all aspects of our lives are being turned into data points — and it raises significant ethical concerns about privacy, surveillance, and misuse.
Teaching AI Ethics: Data 2025
Data has become the de-facto currency of the digital age. Every interaction with technology generates data that companies collect, analyse, and monetise — and the scale has exploded with GenAI.
Case Studies
AI Conversations Become Advertising Gold
A leak from ChatGPT's Android app beta suggested OpenAI is preparing to introduce advertisements into ChatGPT, raising questions about hyper-personalised advertising based on users' deepest thoughts and emotional states.
The Datafication of Education
A study found that 98% of iOS educational apps gather user data, with Duolingo collecting data across 19 segments and Google Classroom across 17. Nearly a quarter of apps used collected data for third-party advertising.
Teaching Ideas
How might data-driven historical research create new biases? If AI models are trained primarily on digitised texts from wealthy nations, how might that skew our understanding of global history?
What happens to the "human" elements of reading when texts are reduced to data points?
How can we ensure that predictive algorithms used in education don't reinforce existing inequalities?
How do learning management systems collect and use student data? What are the implications of behavioural tracking?
What is the true "cost" of "free" services like ChatGPT?
If your data creates a profile that predicts your behaviour, are you still free?
What are the current legal protections for student data? How have laws like FERPA, COPPA, and GDPR evolved in response to AI?
How does datafication impact the way we study and interpret historical events?
How does datafication influence the way literature is analysed and interpreted?
How has datafication transformed the study of mathematics and careers in maths?
How does datafication impact the study of environmental systems?
What are the ethical implications of using data-driven methods in artistic practice?
What are the ethical considerations in using data-driven methods to analyse geographical information?