Call for Think Pieces: AI and the Future of Education, Disruptions, Dilemmas and Directions
Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are changing visions of the future of education. For some practitioners and observers, this class of technology opens remarkable opportunities for teaching and learning. For others AI carries worrying harms and risks. And for others, its educational implications are overstated – more hype than substance.
AI is not just on the horizon for education. In many parts of the world, it is here today – influencing pedagogy, assessment, evaluation, the organization of education, notions of what is more and less valuable to learn, citizenship, and understandings of what constitutes human intelligence. The technology is forcing educational institutions across the world to reconsider what knowledge, skills, values, and behaviours are most important for life and work. Countries, localities and individual schools and universities are integrating, regulating and sometimes shunning the technology in educational contexts. There is little national, let alone global, consensus about best practices and even less evidence, given the pace of the technological developments.
At this moment of volatility and malleability, UNESCO is opening a call for critical reflections and alternative imaginaries. UNESCO invites the submission of short think pieces (maximum of 1500 words) that explore the implications of AI for education. UNESCO is looking for cogent arguments, new ideas, and foresight about how education and AI are likely to intersect, and the consequences of these intersections.
Pieces that consider the longer-term educational implications of AI are especially encouraged. UNESCO is looking for submissions that gaze beyond the immediacy of today and tomorrow to advance visions of what might be in store for education in the years to come. UNESCO also welcomes ideas about what governments and other groups and individuals can do to help achieve more desirable futures for education in a world where AI companies, technologies, and their applications are projected to become more pervasive and powerful than today.
Contributions can consider not only how AI might influence educational futures but how education can proactively shape responses to AI and establish norms, ethics, and expectations to guide uses of this technology. AI is a force changing education, but so too is education a force changing AI and the ends to which AI is deployed.
The implications of AI for the future of education are blurry and contested. Successful submissions will provide illumination, whether by unpacking a specific issue or grappling with several. Contributions can be anchored in a particular context or speak to a wider regional or global context. They can consider any level of education from primary levels through higher education and adult education. All submissions should be accessible and engaging to general interest audiences.
Guidelines
Submission form: To submit your contributions, please complete the webform here: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8196585/AI-and-the-Futures-of-Learning-Disruptions-Dilemmas-andDirections
Language and length: Think pieces may be submitted in English and French and should not exceed 1,500 words.
Deadline: Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis, closing 30 April 2025.
Criteria: All submissions will be reviewed based on the following criteria:
- Relevance to the topic and alignment with the call for contributions
- Originality and quality of the contribution (content)
- Quality of writing (e.g. grammar, organization, clarity of argument, and style.)
All authors must confirm that their submissions are their original work, that they are humangenerated and that they do not violate any copyright agreements with other publishers. Authors must properly attribute all sources, including any AI-generated components. Plagiarism, commercial content, and product promotion are strictly prohibited.
Published think pieces: Think pieces retained will be published on the UNESCO IdeasLAB which is designed to spark discussion on emerging issues and questions concerning the futures of knowledge, learning and education. UNESCO’s IdeasLAB welcomes diverse perspectives, fresh viewpoints, and provocative debates. Published think pieces will be attributed to the author (or authors) and placed under open access copyright in line with standard UNESCO practices. UNESCO does not offer remuneration for think pieces in response to this call.
Further information and questions: Any questions about this call can be directed to the IdeasLAB editorial team at: futuresofeducation@unesco.org.