Jacques Ellul's Work as Guiding Theory for Critical Evaluation of AI in Education

My purpose in this paper is to argue that Jacques Ellul, a 20th century French technology critic, provides important theoretical perspectives for educational researchers as we critically examine AI. In this conceptual paper, I introduce two key concepts from Ellulian thought, his definition of technique and his skepticism of facts, and illustrate their relevance through examples of how they might guide consideration of AI technologies in education. Each of these concepts is accompanied by multiple brief examples as well as an extended (if necessarily incomplete) consideration of one specific issue. I demonstrate how Ellul’s writing on technique invites us to consider broader and more interconnected phenomena than just a single artificial intelligence tool; likewise, I show how his skepticism of facts can be used to evaluate epistemological assumptions and be more critical about media. While Ellul is not unknown in the literatures on education, AI, or the convergence of the two, many references to his work only engage with him and his ideas in passing. In contrast, I provide an extended demonstration of how sustained engagement with Ellul’s thinking can inspire and shape our critical consideration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in education.

Greenhalgh, S. P. (advance online publication). Jacques Ellul's work as guiding theory for critical evaluation of AI in education. Information and Learning Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-02-2026-0044