W
hat
is AI
empowe rment ? How do we stop AI from worsening
inequalities? Why do we need AI in classrooms? How can we keep children safe online? It could have been a five-day summit as experts did their best to cover it all in a single morning. The first session took a look at
priorities for AI rollout in schools and colleges and covered topics such as safety, effectiveness and best practice. First up was Dr Caitlin Bentley,
senior lecturer in AI Education at King’s College London and deputy chair skills pillar at Responsible AI UK who explored initiatives helping to make AI safe, inclusive and beneficial to all.
BUILDING EMPOWERED AI USERS “We need to focus on digital empowerment and to me that goes way beyond AI literacy. It’s about what is needed for AI to really improve learning, education, our lives and society,” said Bentley. “When we think of ensuring AI
* Westminster Education Forum policy conference: Next steps for AI in education in England on 29th April 2025
is beneficial for all, we still have a long way to go in terms of changing the AI technologies themselves as well as how we use them. We need to think about how we come together as governments, communities, educators, schools, parents and students – as everyone needs to be involved in these conversations.” Bentley explored the purpose and impact of AI and talked about the
need for active involvement to ensure systems are safe and useful for both students and educators alike. “When it comes to schools
and institutions, strong leadership is vital,” said Bentley. She noted that education institutions can do these three vital things to facilitate AI empowerment. Firstly – adopt purpose-driven
principles. “We need to teach students to question answers, understand multiple epistemologies and their own position in the world – with AI as an area for exploration rather than to provide the answers.” Secondly, said Bentley, “we
need to invest in educators and ensure our teachers foster digital empowerment in order to prepare students for an AI dominated future. To me, AI simply reinforces pedagogical approaches, good or bad, but changing pedagogical practice is a bigger challenge than just helping teachers to use AI or to adapt their assessments.” Thirdly, she urged all stakeholders
to strengthen AI and online protections holistically. “We have the online safety act and students, parents, teachers and schools all need to be involved. The best protection will be education that is meaningful to our diverse students.” Bentley warned about the
harms of AI and social media and how AI empowerment offers the most promising solution. “Empowerment-based education for our diverse students offers the greatest protection because it enables students to take ownership
25
pedagogical
GLOBAL EDUCATION
AI
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