AI in Education. Coming of Age? The Community Voice

Abstract

At AIED 2022 (Durham), a panel discussion took place in response to a provocation that acknowledged that the work of the AIED community is increasingly being commercialised and that, partly as a consequence, AIED is increasingly being criticised (e.g., for perpetuating poor pedagogic practices, datafication, and introducing classroom surveillance). The provocation went on to ask whether the AIED community should carry on regardless, continuing with its traditional focus, or whether it should seek a new role. As the panel discussion raised many important issues, the panellists were subsequently invited to publish their thoughts in opinion pieces in the IJAIED. To extend the discussion, several leading researchers from outside the community were also invited to contribute. The result was a Special Issue of the IJAIED (“AIED. Coming of age?”, 2023). However, now that some of AIED’s leading community members and some leading researchers from outside the community had had their say, there remained an important gap. What were the thoughts and opinions of the wider membership of the AIED community? This is particularly timely given the recent explosion of AIED tools, particularly due to the now widely available tools based on Large Language Models. This half-day workshop was dedicated to opening up the conversation, so that everyone in the community could have their say, and could contribute to the future of AIED.