UNESCO mobilizes Education Ministers Worldwide for a Coordinated Response to Artificial Intelligence.

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May 30, 2023

UNESCO mobilizes Education Ministers Worldwide for a Coordinated Response to Artificial Intelligence.

UNESCO, AI

Paris, France, May 30, 2023 — In response to the rapid emergence of new and powerful generative AI tools, UNESCO convened the first global gathering of Education Ministers to discuss the immediate and long-term potential, difficulties and hazards AI applications pose to education systems. Over 40 Ministers gathered to exchange policy approaches and plans for integrating these tools into education. UNESCO proposed a roadmap on generative AI and education, including open multistakeholder collaboration, during the online discussion on May 25, 2023.

“Generative AI expands educational horizons and challenges.” However, we must act quickly to ensure that future AI technologies are integrated into education on our terms. “It is our responsibility to prioritize safety, inclusion, diversity, transparency, and quality — as stated in the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, which our Member States unanimously adopted,” said Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education.

• Ministers highlighted several Pressing Challenges and shared Policy Approaches

Several common concerns emerged during the discussion, including how to adapt education systems to the disruptions that generative AI is causing, how to integrate generative AI into curricula, teaching methods, and examinations, and how to mitigate the inherent flaws of these technologies, such as the ability to make glaring errors and produce biassed information.

The ministerial debate highlighted that governments worldwide are building or refining appropriate policy responses in this fast-emerging context, including developing or refining national AI, data protection, and other regulatory frameworks.

• Only 10% of Schools and Universities have Formal Guidance on AI

According to a new UNESCO global study of over 450 schools and institutions, less than 10% have produced institutional rules and detailed advice on using generative AI applications. The findings show that institutions face difficulties in responding quickly to the sudden appearance of these powerful, productive AI apps capable of producing written and visual creations.

The importance of teachers as learning facilitators in this new era was emphasized. However, to handle these obstacles, teachers require guidance and training.

• UNESCO’s Policy Guidelines and Competencies Framework

UNESCO will continue to lead the global conversation with policymakers, EdTech partners, academia, and civil society. The Organisation is establishing policy guidelines for using generative AI in education and research and AI competency frameworks for students and teachers in school. These will be unveiled at the Digital Learning Week, held at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris from September 4 to 7, 2023.

Through its mandates for education and science, UNESCO has unique competence. In recent years, the Organisation has led a global study on the Future of Education, and it has also produced the first global normative framework for the ethics of artificial intelligence, which its 193 Member States unanimously endorsed in November 2021.

• UNESCO’s Work in AI in Education

UNESCO is aiding its Member States in realizing the potential of AI technology in their respective fields of competence. The UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI, adopted in 2021, establishes the proper normative foundation. In education, the Organisation has mobilized stakeholders around the Beijing Consensus on Artificial Intelligence and Education and has produced several guidelines, including AI and Education: A Guide for Policymakers.

Source: UNESCO

|GlobalGiants.Com|

— The Editor is a UNESCO-IIEP Certified Higher Education Consultant.

Edited & Posted by the Editor | 3:18 AM | Link to this Post