3rd Workshop at AIED 2025

Selected for the third time:

Workshop “Artificial Intelligence and Education: International Regulation for the Human Rights”

It is accepted after blind peer-review and IS taking place at 26th International AIED Conference 2025 in Palermo, Italy!

Welcome to our Workshop!

We will present and discuss with you the ongoing work of the Council of Europe AI&ED Expert Group on two international conventions: AI use in education (AIED) and Education about AI (AI literacy).

This year, the workshop is dedicated to: “Ethical AI and Education: The need for international regulation to foster human rights, democracy and equity“.

Join our interactive discussion and exchange in the half-day hybrid workshop on Tuesday, 22nd of July 2025 (14:00 to 18:00).

All details on https://aied2025.learning-innovations.eu/

Results of the 2nd AI&ED Conference

I was very pleased to co-organize the Second Conference “Regulating the Use of AI Systems in Education” on 24th and 25th of October 2024 in Strasbourg. During this interactive event, the Council of Europe invited all stakeholders to discuss the needs for international regulation of AI in education.

Overall, this 2nd AI&ED Conference was a huge success. It brought together all relevant stakeholder groups (researchers, teachers, students, enterprises, public authorities, policy makers and NGOs) which was considered as a strong asset and advantages. And a need for a 3rd Working Conference in 2025 was expressed to discuss in detail the upcoming proposals for the international AIED convention as binding legal instrument and the AI Literacy Toolbox that will be developed in the meantime.

The 2nd Conference facilitated a deep exchange of experiences and engaged discussions in the interactive sessions. While this combination was highly appreciated, many participants demanded for more general debates and group work dedicated to specific topics in parallel sessions. During a 3rd Conference in 2025, the sharing of experiences could be facilitated through pre-recorded videos and publication distributed in advance to allow more time for the general debates and group work collaboration.

In summary, the following recommendations were made:

  • Responsibility: In all AIED processes and aspects, there is always a human-to-human responsibility as the AI systems are developed, designed, implemented, offered and used by human beings with their specific responsibilities for the impacts of their activities.
  • Evidence: There is a strong need for evidence-based research to collect and analyse large-scale data and information about the impacts of AIED and AI Literacy implementations.
  • Holistic approach: The regulation of the AI use in Education (AIED) always requires the Education about AI (AI Literacy).
  • Policy makers: Representatives from CoE member states and their public authorities should present their ideas, proposals and action plans related to future AIED and AI Literacy.

Finally, the urgency of AI regulation in education as a special sector was confirmed: Current legal frameworks, such as GDPR and the EU AI Act, are insufficient to address education-specific challenges, particularly concerning children’s rights. It is important that the legal instrument for the AI regulation in education planned by the Council of Europe is aligned and complementary to the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, as well as to serve the core values of the Council of Europe, namely: human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

More information about the Programme of the 2nd AI&ED Conference by the Council of Europe: https://opening-up.education/second-conference-on-ai-regulation-in-education-by-the-council-of-europe

More information about the mandate of the Council of Europe for the AI regulation in education can be found here: https://opening-up.education/mandate-for-aied-regulation-by-european-ministers

2nd Conference on AI&ED by the Council of Europe

Registration still open until 1st of September 2024

The Council of Europe invites you to the Second Conference “Regulating the Use of AI Systems in Education” on 24th and 25th of October 2024 in Strasbourg. Registration is still possible online until 1st of September 2024. With this interactive event, the Council of Europe wants to discuss the necessary international regulation of AI in education.

The conference is being organized by members of the AI&ED Expert Group, including myself currently developing research on artificial intelligence and open education at the Scientific University IT and Data Centre. The AI&ED Expert Group was appointed by the Council of Europe to support it in the development of a specific European law on the ethical use of AI in education. This planned EU regulation on AI in education was mandated by the Ministers of Education in 2023 and will be presented and discussed at the conference.

The EU Commission, EU Parliament and governments have now agreed on the adoption of the AI Act as the first international cross-sectoral AI regulatory law and published it. However, the education sector is left out and the Council of Europe wants to close this gap, for which it received a mandate from all European education ministries in September 2023. To this end, the Council of Europe has appointed the AI&ED Expert Group, which is now preparing the draft AI law and recommendations for AI curricula. The first interim results were presented in a workshop at the AIED Conference 2024 in Recife (http://aied2024.learning-innovations.eu) and discussed with participants from all universities worldwide. The aim is to adopt and publish the draft as an EU law as soon as possible in order to enable the ethical and safe use of AI in universities worldwide.

Conference website by the Council of Europe: https://www.coe.int/en/web/education/-/working-conference-on-regulating-the-use-of-ai-systems-in-education

Conference agenda on 24th and 25th of October 2024 in Strasbourg: https://rm.coe.int/2nd-working-conference-on-regulating-the-use-of-ai-systems-in-educatio/1680b0dfcd

More about the initiative by the Council of Europe for the international AI regulation in education: https://opening-up.education/mandate-for-aied-regulation-by-european-ministers

25th Global AIED Conference 2024 in Brazil

International research and workshop on AI and Education

The Artificial Intelligence and Education (AIED) conference celebrated its 25th anniversary and a record number of participants. Over 500 researchers from all over the world came together to discuss the most pressing questions and latest research findings relating to artificial intelligence (AI) and education. The Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn was represented at AIED 2024 in the Brazilian metropolis of Recife by me.

As the research coordinator of the scientific University IT and Data Centre, I presented the first systematic literature analysis on the ethical issues of AI and Education (AI&ED), which had been selected as a scientific paper in an anonymous procedure (double-blind peer review). I was also able to present the successful teaching and learning project ‘Virtual Collaboration’ (called ViCo: https://www.vico.uni-bonn.de) and the first handout for teachers in universities from the European network ‘Ethical Use of AI’ (https://ethischeki.ecompetence.eu).

My second submission was also successful: a half-day interactive workshop on the topic of AI regulation was also accepted in a double-blind peer review process. As an appointed member of the AI&ED Expert Group of the Council of Europe, I gave an introduction to current developments, to which I could also welcome Ahmet-Murat Kilic from the Council of Europe. Afterwards, I moderated the workshop and facilitated small working groups using the World Café method.

The interest, enquiries and feedback on the research results were outstanding and the AIED 2024 conference enjoyed active participation and great popularity overall. The largest Brazilian TV station Globo reported on site and also interviewed me as international AI&ED expert to share my view.

All scientific publications and the presentations are published on the homepage https://opening-up.education/events and the results of the workshop are presented on its website http://aied2024.learning-innovations.eu

My invited speech at EUNIS 2024

I was pleased to be invited speaker at the Congress EUNIS 2024 in Athens:

On 4th of June 2024, I was explaining the current situation in relattion to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

My title was “Artificial Intelligence Regulation” and I was mainly focusing the AI Act and the upcoming law for using AI in education.

The AI Act as a general approach is applicable for all sectors. It is based on an impact assessment and the distinction between four levels of potential AI risks. During the development, generative AI (genAI) became popular and it was introduced as an addition category maybe causing future conflict with the four risk levels.

Education is a special sector that requires special attention:
Therefore, the Council of Europe and its appointed AI&ED Expert Group are working on a complementary law especially for the use of AI in education. It will set the framework and boundaries for ethical AI use in teaching and learning processes.

More about EUNIS 2024 and the AI workshop: https://eunis.org/blog/events/security-challenges-and-the-benefits-of-ai/

My slides are available here: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11568575

EduTalk Recording is published by Council of Europe

The EduTalk of the Council of Europe on “Teaching and Learning with and about AI” was a huge success thanks to more than 100 participants!

On 19th of October 2023, I was very happy to discuss together with my colleagues the ethical dimensions of AI&ED. In particular we emphasized the importance and need to focus and regulate AI and Education (AI&ED).

All details about the EduTalk can be found on the Council of Europe website.

The recording of the EduTalk is published now, just click on the image below:

 

AI&ED Workshop at Council of Europe in Strasbourg

Council of Europe AI&ED Expert Group
CoE_AIED_Expert_Group

The AI&ED Expert Group was meeting at the Council of Europe in Strabourg for two-day interactive workshop. On Tuesday, 21st, and Wednesday, 22nd of November 2023, all experts were discussing the future AI&ED activities in Europe.

Main objective was the development and reflection of key elements and structures relevant for the planned European AI&ED legal regulation and accompanying recommendation on AI literacy.

All 20+ experts from all parts of Europe agreed on the need for a strong international convention that should also be adopted as legally binding instrument in Europe and all Council if Europe’s member states.

AI&ED Expert Group appointed by Council of Europe

The Council of Europe has identified the urgent need to focus ethical Artificial Intelligence and education (AI&ED). Therefore, it has appointed the AI&ED Expert Group to support the development of European instruments and the information and discussion with all relevant stakeholders.

After a conference in 2022 and a first report on the current AI&ED situation, the Council of Europe decided to continue and strengthen the activities towards European approaches. Main objective is to safeguard and improve the European core values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law during the introduction and implementation of AI&ED.

Thus, I’m very proud and honoured to be selected and appointed by the Council of Europe as member of its AI&ED Expert Group. And I’m looking forward to our close collaborarion to regulate and enhance  AI&ED in both approaches: as ethical AI use in education (AIED) and as innovative teaching and learning about AI (AI literacy).