Luke Waltzer, director of the Teaching and Learning Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, joins The Thought Project to discuss his leadership of the Critical AI Literacy Institute, a three-year initiative funded by Google.org. The project brings together CUNY faculty to explore the impact of generative AI on teaching and learning, while creating space for reflection and experimentation in the classroom. 

Waltzer emphasizes that AI tools are not “intelligent” replacements for human thinking but technologies that must be critically examined for their material, ethical, and epistemological consequences. 

From sociology to computer science, faculty are designing interventions that help students grapple with the promises and pitfalls of AI. At the same time, Waltzer and his team are preparing graduate student teachers — who collectively teach over 100,000 CUNY undergraduates each year — with critical AI training so they can guide the next generation of learners. The conversation underscores the stakes of preserving agency, curiosity, and critical engagement in higher education

Teaching for the Age of AI

The CUNY Graduate Center is a leader in public graduate education devoted to enhancing the public good through pioneering research, serious learning, and reasoned debate. The CUNY Graduate Center offers ambitious students more than 40 doctoral and master’s programs of the highest caliber, taught by top faculty from throughout CUNY — the nation’s largest public urban university. Through its nearly 40 centers, institutes, and initiatives, including its Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC), The Graduate Center influences public policy and discourse and shapes innovation. The CUNY Graduate Center Graduate Center’s extensive public programs make it a home for culture and conversation.