Sam Illingworth, PhD
Knowing when to use AI, and when to leave it the hell alone.
I am a Full Professor of Critical AI Literacy. I teach this to individuals, to institutions, and from the stage.
A new issue every week. Joining 20,000+ readers across 158 countries.
Three ways to work with me
For individuals
A weekly newsletter, free to read, and a twelve-month CPD-accredited curriculum for anyone who wants to develop the judgement themselves.
Read Slow AI →For institutions
CPD, curriculum design, and AI adoption audits for universities, schools, and organisations that need their people to use AI well.
See how we work together →For events
Keynotes, workshops, and panels on critical AI literacy, synthetic empathy, and the ethics of automation.
View topics →I am a Full Professor of Critical AI Literacy at Edinburgh Napier University, a poet, and the founder of Slow AI. I have given expert evidence to the Council of Europe, European Commission, and House of Lords Select Committee on AI literacy, human rights, and democratic governance.
I help people develop the judgement to know when AI is useful and when it is not. Through research, writing, and teaching, I build the critical faculties that no AI tool can provide.
New book, out now · #1 Amazon Bestseller in Education
Slow AI: Knowing When to Use AI and When to Leave It Alone
My critical counterpoint to the 'AI will save us' books, drawn from two years of Slow AI and my own research. A short read on when AI helps, when it does not, and how to tell the difference. On Kindle and paperback.
Four-week course · rated 5.0
Critical AI Literacy: When to Use AI and When to Leave It Alone
A guided cohort course. You move from using AI on faith to using it with judgement: spotting when it helps, catching when it harms, and knowing the difference.
"Sam is an earnest instructor who freely and vulnerably shares his own learning to build community and facilitate conversation."
Abby, learning delivery adjunct
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Why Slow AI
AI is surrounded by hyperbole from all sides. Utopians who think it will save the world. Doomers who think it will end it. Oligarchs trying to control it. Snake oil salespeople profiting from the confusion.
None of them are right.
AI will make positive differences if we keep it out of the wrong hands. Slow AI exists to help people cut through the noise, develop critical thinking skills, and apply them to AI in their own context. I believe in friction, in slowness, in human judgement, and in knowing when to stop.
What people say
"You're one of the few creators on here that actually makes me think. Not skim. Not nod along. Think."
Nick Quick, paid subscriber
"It encouraged me to think much more carefully about whether we should use it, why we are using it, and what might be lost when we do."
Emma, Academic Lead for Teaching and Learning
"What he presents feels trustworthy to my academic mind, because his aim is understanding, not selling something."
Marin, Senior Executive Dean, Faculty Affairs and Learning Innovation