UNESCO unveils new AI roadmap for classrooms

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Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau

UNITED NATIONS, 27th May. UNESCO on Friday convened the first global meeting with education ministers from around the world to explore risks and rewards of using chatbots in classrooms, announced a new roadmap to chart a safer digital path for all.

According to the UNESCO less than 10 per cent of schools and universities follow formal guidance on using wildly popular artificial intelligence (AI) tools, like the chatbot software ChatGPT.

The agency said in a press release that the ministers exchanged policy approaches and plans while considering the new roadmap on education and generative AI, which can create data and content based on existing algorithms, but can also make alarming factual errors, just like humans.

Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education said that “It is our duty to prioritize safety, inclusion, diversity, transparency and quality.”

“Generative AI opens 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.”

According to a new UNESCO survey over 450 schools and universities Institutions are facing myriad challenges in crafting an immediate response to the sudden emergence of these powerful AI apps.

The governments worldwide are in the process of shaping appropriate policy responses in a rapidly evolving education landscape, while further developing or refining national strategies on AI, data protection, and other regulatory frameworks, UNESCO said

They are proceeding with caution. risks to using these tools can see students exposed to false or biased information, some ministers said at the global meeting.

The debate revealed other common concerns, including how to mitigate the chatbots’ inherent flaws of producing glaring errors. Ministers also addressed how best to integrate these tools into curricula, teaching methods, and exams, and adapting education systems to the disruptions which generative AI is quickly causing.

It highlighted the vital role teachers play in this new era as learning facilitators.

UNESCO stressed that teachers need guidance and training to meet these challenges.

The agency will boost the global dialogue with policy makers, partners, academia, and civil society, in line with its paper, AI and education: A guide for policy-makers and Recommendation on the Ethics of AI, as well as the Beijing Consensus on Artificial Intelligence and Education.

UNESCO is developing policy guidelines on the use of generative AI in education and research, as well as frameworks of AI competencies for students and teachers for classrooms.

The agency said that these new tools will be launched during Digital Learning Week, to be held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 4 to 7 September.

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