Keynote Speaker

Mutlu Cukurova

Professor of Learning and Artificial Intelligence
University College London, UK

Keynote abstract:

“Educators collaborating to innovate: The roles digital technologies can play”

AI in Education is more than tools like ChatGPT. This talk presents a multi-dimensional view of AI’s role in learning and education, emphasizing the intricate interplay between AI and the cognitive processes of learning. Prof. Cukurova challenges the prevalent narrow conceptualization of AI as stochastic tools, highlighting the cognitive diversity inherent in AI algorithms, and posits that AI can serve as an instrument for understanding human learning. Early learning sciences and AI in Education research, which saw AI as an analogy for human intelligence, have diverged from this perspective, prompting a need to rekindle this connection. The presentation delves into three conceptualizations of AI in education: the externalization of cognition, the internalization of AI models to influence human thought processes, and the extension of human cognition via tightly integrated human-AI systems. Prof. Cukurova argues for a balanced view that recognizes AI’s limitations and the need for AI systems that support human agency, facilitate the internalization of learning process models, and enhance human cognition without replacing it. The presentation concludes with an advocacy for a broader educational approach that includes educating about AI itself and innovating educational systems to remain relevant in a world with ubiquitous AI.

Education and Background:

Mutlu Cukurova is Professor of Learning and Artificial Intelligence at University College London. Prof. Cukurova investigates the potential of AI to understand and support human learning with a particular interest in “learning how to learn” and solving complex problems collaboratively. His work emphasises human-AI complementarity, aiming to address the pressing socio-educational challenge of preparing people for a future with AI systems that will require a great deal more than the routine cognitive skills currently prized by many education systems and traditional approaches to automation. Prof. Cukurova is the Director of the UCLAIT team and works with UNESCO’s Unit for Technology and AI in Education as an external expert. He contributed to numerous influential policymaking documents including UNESCO’s recent report on Guidance for generative AI in education and research. He is currently leading the report on UNESCO AI competency frameworks for teachers and students. He was the programme chair of the International Conference of AI in Education in 2020, currently serving as the editor of the British Journal of Educational Technology and an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction. Click here to see his full bio.