This question sparked cross-disciplinary discussions among partners of the UNOE network. Here is the contribution from the RELIA Chair.

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Last November, as part of the international UNITWIN Network in Open Education (UNOE), each partner was encouraged to initiate a local discussion group composed of university students to explore and share their vision of the future of learning and education.

In Nantes, with our group of about ten students from various disciplines (Languages, Law, Environmental Humanities), we began with the question:

Now that AI works, do we still need to learn?

which quickly evolved into a broader question:

Why do we learn in this day and age?

During the debate and discussions that ensued, the students highlighted three main reasons that, in their view, answer this question, while also analyzing the positive or negative impact AI could have on each of these aspects:

We learn for pleasure, for the sense of satisfaction that comes from learning independently and “knowing.”

We learn to socialize and to be integrated within a group or, more broadly, in society.

We learn to develop critical thinking, to exercise independent judgment.

After several brainstorming sessions, the students summarized their ideas in a short report, with the goal of presenting it and exchanging their views with other student groups from the UNOE network.

On May 6th, we had the opportunity to host, via videoconference, the students of Fawzi Baroud, a professor at Notre Dame University–Louaize in Lebanon and a member of the UNOE network.

After a brief introduction of the teams, the Lebanese students—who had read the report a few days earlier—were able to ask the French students questions and challenge ideas.

Lively Debates and Meaningful Exchanges

The discussions were lively. Students inquired if artificial intelligence can teach critical thinking better than a human, whether there could truly be pleasure in learning given that one often has to toil to complete the requirements of a degree, and about the paradox of universities recognizing the importance of socialization in learning while doing little to support it in practice.

Read here our article on the students’ report

The discussion groups continue their work within the network. Once a group finishes its reflections, it debates with another group from a different country.

Eventually, we hope to compile all these exchanges into a report reflecting the vision of students from several countries (Brazil, Lebanon, France, South Africa, Mexico, Tunisia, etc.). These contributions will then be shared with UNESCO, which awaits these opinions and analysis.

Why Are These Answers Important for a Network Focused on the Impact of AI or Open Education?

We can even take a step back and “question the question”: Why are these answers important for a network concerned with the impact of AI or open education?

Our choice of this question is based on the idea that the impact of AI on education is also an impact on the motivation to learn. And it is possible that different motivations to learn are impacted differently by AI. For example, motivation rooted in a supportive family environment—one that encourages learning and understands the keys to success—will likely be less affected by AI. Unfortunately, such motivations are available only to a niche within the population.

The next step in the work will therefore be to identify non-discriminatory levers that can be acted upon.