Artificial Intelligence, Policy and Education Futures

4th July 2024. 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM (Sydney, Australia) 

This exclusive event brings together diverse education stakeholders from local and global institutions, to discuss recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the evolving global landscape of AI policy and regulation, spanning regions such as Asia-Pacific and Europe. Our main objective is to facilitate synergistic dialogues across global and local scales, with a focus on collectively envisioning AI education policies that foster ethical and sustainable futures. 

Speakers: 

Mark West

Title: Looking back to see ahead: COVID-19, the digital transformation of learning, and the future of education

Mark West works in UNESCO’s Education Sector where he examines how technology can improve the quality, equity, and accessibility of learning. He advises governments about opportunities and risks for education in an age of accelerating digital change. Mark spent much of the past three years researching and writing UNESCO’s recently released book, ‘An Ed-Tech Tragedy?’. The book analyzes the ed-tech experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and their lessons for the future of education. It has been well welcomed by education and technology experts and praised by popular news outlets, including the New York Times, the Financial Times, and the South China Morning Post. Mark’s prior publications of note include ‘I’d Blush if I Could’ (2019) and ‘Reading in the Mobile Era’ (2014). He is a graduate of Stanford University.

Frank Van Cappelle

Title: Can AI transform learning for the world’s most marginalized children?

Frank van Cappelle is UNICEF’s global lead for digital education and head of the Global Learning Innovation Hub in Finland. He shapes UNICEF’s vision and strategy on digital learning, learning innovation, and digital transformation of education systems. The Hub is driven by a dual mission: to harness innovations to address the global learning crisis and to shape the future of learning now. The Hub’s initiatives include Gateways to Public Digital Learning, a joint UNICEF-UNESCO initiative to establish digital learning as a public good; and Accessible Digital Textbooks – leveraging AI to make textbooks and learning materials accessible for children with disabilities. Prior to UNICEF, he worked at UNESCO, as an independent consultant, and in academia. His publications include UNICEF and UNESCO’s international framework for monitoring out-of-school children and dropout prevention.

Werner Westermann Juárez

Title: Global Landscape of Generative AI Policy in Education

Werner Westermann Juárez has worked in the Civic Education Program, at the Library of National Congress of Chile since 2015. He is a History, Geography and Social Sciences Teacher and Bachelor Graduate in History from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Over 25 years of work experience in digital technology-enabled education and training, as well as research and development projects, in national government agencies (Ministry of Education), higher education (REUNA, IPP), international agencies (ECLAC) and civil society institutions. Open Education advocate and practitioner: co-writer of the Cape Town Open Education Declaration. He has developed research on Open Educational Resources OER adoption and impact (ROER4D). Hub Coordinator for Open Education for a Better World OE4BW initiative. 2021 Open Education Award. UNESCO HQ consultant on OER and AI in education policies and master plans. International Jury Member for UNESCO’s ICT in Education Global Prize since 2018.  

Yonah Welker

Title: Human Capacity-Centered AI Policy and Eurasian / Transatlantic Safety Dialogue

Yonah Welker is a technologist and public expert for algorithms and policies, former tech envoy EU/MENA, advisor of the Ministry and authorities of AI and public Innovation, visiting lecturer, evaluator. Yonah Welker’s contributions and work have been featured and added to the acts, reports and frameworks, featured by the White House PCAST, the World Economic Forum, OECD, UNESCO, supported AI and Digital Acts, treaties, ontologies and taxonomies of assistive systems, AI, robotics, health, education, accessibility systems, programs.

Yonah Welker has made appearances and published commentary to bring awareness to human-centered technologies and policies, provided tech and policy commentary for the public and authorities (e.g. AI, Telecommunication, Economic and Social Development, technology and research institutions), served as an evaluator and expert to EU-Commission funded projects, contributed to research, development and adoption frameworks, MOOCs, including digital ecosystems, workplaces, educational and public spaces, curated and boarded Summits of AI for humanity, cross-national initiatives. 

Dr Maria Perez-Ortiz

Title: Bias Towards Women and Girls in Large Language Model: Challenging Prejudice in Generative AI Systems

Dr Maria Perez-Ortiz is Associate Professor at the AI Centre at University College London. She is Director of the first MSc programme on AI for Sustainable Development, at the intersection of emerging AI technologies, sustainability and ethics. Perez-Ortiz is also deputy of the UNESCO Chair in AI. Her latest policy report “Challenging systematic prejudices: an investigation into bias against women and girls in large language models” shows the extent to which language models show gender biases. Her current line of work is responsible AI and how these novel technologies could support policy makers in complex scenarios.

Kenneth Y T Lim

Title: Local knowledge, pro-social values and Generative AI: a perspective from neuroergonomics

Kenneth Y T Lim and his team were identified in 2023 to share their work on the affordances of Generative AI for meaningful teaching and learning, during UNESCO’s first annual flagship event Digital Learning Week, international forum on the implications of Generative AI for education, session on ‘Preparing students and teachers for responsible use of AI’; and also at ‘Empowering Minds: A Round Table on Generative AI and Education in Asia-Pacific’ organized by UNESCO Bangkok. Kenneth was also invited by the World Bank to participate in the Members’ Day of the mEducation Alliance, in discussions on the sustainable use of culturally appropriate technologies in low-resource contexts of learning. The meeting was held at the World Bank in Washington DC. In 2024, his early work on the affordances for learning of the paradigm of spatial computing advanced by the Apple Vision Pro was recognised when he was featured on national broadcast television.

Shafika Isaacs 

Title: Cultivating Critical Teacher Agency in the Age of AI 

Shafika Isaacs specialises in social justice perspectives on digital learning and AI in education. She serves as Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg and as Research Associate at the LINK Centre, Wits University where she is a research lead on AI influences in African education systems. She has provided technical support on digital learning policy and practice for many organisations and currently serves on the UNESCO Expert Group on developing an AI Competency Framework for Teachers.  She serves on several governing boards and has published widely on digital learning in global majority contexts. 

Matthew Esterman

Title: AI in Schools: 5 Challenges 

Matthew Estermann is the Director of Innovation and Partnerships at Our Lady of Mercy College Parramatta and holds masters degrees from the University of Sydney and Macquarie University. He is a leader in the discussion of AI in schools and shares his knowledge widely. Matthew’s passion for future-focused education is making an impact in schools and beyond his profession. He has been awarded the Dr. Paul Brock medal from the Australian Council of Educators and most recently a Commonwealth Bank Teaching Fellowship from SchoolsPlus.

Christina Wiremu-Brook

Title: Putting AI Ethics Principles into Practice in Education

Christina Wiremu-Brook is an AI & Data Specialist leading Safe AI at the NSW Department of Education. With expertise in ethics, data science, and public policy, she builds AI ethics and governance frameworks to enable safe AI in education. Her postgraduate research explored China’s approach to using AI for advancing the SDGs. Her diverse background includes leading an Indigenous education non-profit, consulting, and data science roles.Christina prides herself as a socio-technical translator, engaging with executives, crafting social policies, and performing advanced analytics. Her strategic vision, commitment to public good, and technical understanding make her ideally suited to understand and solve AI Ethics challenges.

Ilkka Tuomi

Rethink Education? 

Mr. Tuomi is the Founder and Chief Scientist at Meaning Processing, an independent public research organization located in Helsinki, Finland. He has been member of the board of the Finnish Artificial Intelligence Society, twice nominated member of the Scientific Council of the Finnish Innovation Fund (SITRA), visiting scientist at the EC Joint Research Centre and the University of California, Berkeley, fellow of the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies, and principal scientist in Knowledge Management and Information Society at Nokia Research Center. He has a degree in theoretical physics and a doctoral degree in adult education, both from the University of Helsinki. He is known for his work on innovation and knowledge creation theory, foundational work on futures research, and his recent work that integrates learning theories with AI in education.