Over 40 ministers shared their policy approaches and plans on how best to integrate these tools into education. In an online discussion on Thursday, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) presented a roadmap on generative AI and education, including an open multi-stakeholder dialogue.
“Generative AI opens up new horizons and challenges for education. But we urgently need to take action to ensure that new AI technologies are integrated into education on our terms,” said Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education.
“It is our duty to prioritize safety, inclusion, diversity, transparency and quality – as stated in the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, adopted unanimously by our Member States”, elaborated the senior official in charge of education.
Urgent challenges and common policy approaches
During the discussion, some common concerns emerged, including how to adapt education systems to the disruption that generative AI is rapidly causing, how to integrate generative AI into curricula, teaching methods and reviews, and how to mitigate inherent flaws in these technologies, including the ability to make glaring errors and produce biased information.
The ministerial debate revealed that governments around the world are formulating appropriate policy responses in this rapidly changing landscape – developing or refining national strategies on artificial intelligence, data protection and other regulatory frameworks.
Teachers need guidance and training to meet these challenges
A new UNESCO global survey of more than 450 schools and universities found that less than 10% have developed institutional policies and/or formal guidance regarding the use of generative applications of AI. The results show that an immediate response to the sudden emergence of these powerful generative AI applications that can produce written and visual creations is a challenge for institutions.
The vital role that teachers play in this new era as facilitators of learning was highlighted. But teachers need guidance and training to meet these challenges.
UNESCO Policy Orientations and Competency Framework
UNESCO will continue to guide the global dialogue with policy makers, EdTech partners, academia and civil society.
The UN agency is currently developing guidelines on the use of generative AI in education and research, as well as AI competency frameworks for students and teachers in school education, which are to be launched during Digital Learning Week, which will take place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris from 4 to 7 September 2023.
UNESCO has unique expertise, through its mandate for education and science. In recent years, the agency has led a global reflection on the future of education and also established the first global normative framework for the ethics of artificial intelligence, adopted unanimously by its 193 member states in November 2021.
2023-05-26 15:39:23
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