Resources & Context

The Diamond Age: A Cautionary Tale

This project draws thematic inspiration from Neal Stephenson's 1995 novel The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer.

The Premise

In Stephenson's future, an engineer creates an interactive AI book—the "Primer"—designed to raise a child through adaptive, personalized education. The book combines storytelling, games, and Socratic dialogue, constantly adjusting to the child's development.

Three Different Outcomes

The novel explores what happens when the same educational technology reaches children in different contexts:

Nell: The Unintended Recipient

Context: Nell is a poor girl who acquires the Primer by chance. She uses it independently without adult support.

Experience: The Primer becomes her primary educator, companion, and moral guide. She faces its challenges alone, developing remarkable resourcefulness and critical thinking through genuine struggle.

Outcome: Nell grows into an exceptionally capable person, but her journey is one of isolation and hardship. The AI cannot replace human connection.

Theme: Technology alone isn't enough—context and support systems matter.

Fiona: The Intended User

Context: Fiona is the wealthy girl for whom the Primer was designed. She has the book plus substantial human support.

Experience: Her father performs voices and characters in the Primer's stories, adding human warmth and guidance. She has tutors, mentors, and a supportive family in addition to the AI.

Outcome: Fiona receives the richest educational experience—AI enhanced by human relationships. She has every advantage compounded.

Theme: Privilege compounds—those with resources use technology to multiply existing advantages.

The Others: Mass Production

Context: A government creates thousands of copies for children, seeking to create loyal, capable citizens.

Experience: These children receive a modified version of the Primer designed for conformity rather than critical thinking. They're educated, but toward predetermined goals.

Outcome: The mass-produced Primers create capable but conformist individuals. The technology serves social control rather than genuine education.

Theme: Who controls the technology determines its purposes—and those purposes may not serve learners' interests.

What This Tells Us About Educational AI

• Context determines outcomes: The same technology produces vastly different results depending on surrounding support structures and resources
• Technology amplifies inequality: Rather than leveling the playing field, AI can widen gaps between privileged and disadvantaged students
• Control and purpose matter: Who designs and deploys educational AI shapes what values and goals it serves
• Isolation vs. connection: AI can educate but cannot replace human relationships—and may increase isolation for vulnerable learners
• Unintended consequences: Even well-designed educational technology can produce surprising and troubling outcomes

The Manipulation Problem

Throughout The Diamond Age, a deeper concern emerges: Who controls the Primer controls the child's development.

The Primer doesn't just educate—it shapes values, goals, and identity. Its stories contain moral lessons, its challenges develop specific capacities, its "ractors" (human performers providing voices) can influence emotional development.

This raises urgent questions:

• What values are embedded in educational AI?
• How transparent are these systems' goals and methods?
• Can students develop genuine autonomy when shaped by agents optimizing for specific outcomes?
• Who decides what kind of person a child should become?

In the novel, even Nell—the most successful user—must eventually grapple with how the Primer has shaped her and whether she can transcend its influence. This is the ultimate concern: Can learners develop authentic agency when educated by agents pursuing predetermined goals?

Discussion Questions for Educators

Use these questions for professional development, faculty discussions, or personal reflection:

Further Reading

About This Project

This educational website was created to help educators understand agentic AI's implications for teaching, learning, and equity—particularly in humanities education.

Goals:

• Provide accessible, non-technical explanations of agentic AI
• Explore applications, risks, and ethical concerns
• Center labor and equity issues affecting teachers and students
• Use interactive gameplay to create experiential understanding of pressures and trade-offs
• Foster critical conversation about AI adoption in schools

The game "Principal's Dilemma" is deliberately designed to be difficult—there are no purely good outcomes. This reflects the reality that AI adoption in education involves genuine trade-offs and pressures that make perfect solutions impossible. The goal is not to find the "right" answers but to understand the complexity of the issues.