On 8 July, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, launched the Commission expert group on artificial intelligence (AI) and data in education and training.

The group’s main task is to assist the Commission in preparing ethical guidelines in the field of AI and data in education and training.

Their work will help raise awareness among citizens and educators on the ethical challenges around the use of AI and data in education. With the guidelines, the Commission wants to ensure that educators have the knowledge and confidence to leverage these technologies safely and securely for enhanced learning and teaching experiences.

Explore the group and follow its activities.

First meeting

Commissioner Mariya Gabriel introduced the expert group to the public in an online press event. She was joined by members Dr Tapani Saarinen, teacher and expert on innovative teaching methodologies, and Dr Inge Molenaar, associated professor at Raboud University, whose expertise focuses on how AI can empower learners and teachers.

After the press event, Commissioner Mariya Gabriel met with all 25 expert group members, answering their questions and expressing her appreciation and support to the services they will be offering to the Commission.

The two Co-Chairs, Rehana Schwinninger-Ladak, Head of Unit, Interactive Technologies, Digital for Culture and Education, DG CNECT and Georgi Dimitrov, Acting Head of Unit, Digital Education, DG EAC, discussed with the experts the objectives and mandate of the group, the expected tasks and outcomes, the roadmap and working methods.

Then, the experts were distributed into breakout rooms to start the work on developing ethical guidelines on artificial intelligence (AI) and data usage in teaching and learning for educators. During this part of the first meeting, they mostly worked on the development of a shared understanding of key conceptual elements that will frame the Expert Group work and the Final Report regarding ethical challenges of the use of AI and data in education and training practices.

Next meetings

The expert group will have 4 meetings in total and members are appointed for 1 year. After the first meeting, the experts will work online towards creating a collaborative Final report that will consolidate the expertise of the Group and form the basis for the ethical guidelines in the field of AI and data in education and training, always taking stock of related initiatives and existing guidelines, especially led by the Commission.

The second meeting is planned for 21-22 October 2021 and will aim to discuss intermediate working group results and the content of the Final Report. During the third meeting - taking place in January 2022 – the goal is for the group to adopt the Final Report and discuss the content of the Ethical guidelines on artificial intelligence (AI) and data in teaching and learning for educators. The final meeting in April 2022 will finalise the Ethical guidelines.

How the group was selected

The members of the group – the majority of them researchers and academics in the field of AI, data and ethics in education – were selected through a call for expression of interest. The selected experts are joined by representatives of UNICEF, UNESCO and OECD. All three international organisations have extensive experience and insights dealing with ethics in AI and data in education, which could be of great value to the expert group.

The members come from across Europe and beyond, including Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Slovenia, France, Portugal, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Belarus and Colombia.

The Commission will provide Secretariat support to the group.

Background

The expert group will contribute to the Digital Education Action Plan under Action 6, which aims to promote understanding of emerging technologies and their applications in education, develop ethical guidelines on artificial intelligence (AI) and data usage in teaching and learning for educators and support related research and innovation activities through Horizon Europe.

The group’s work will build upon existing existing frameworks such as the Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence presented by the Commission’s High-level Expert group on artificial intelligence.

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