On 17-18 October 2024, EDEN DLE Management Board member Airina Volungevičienė and EDEN NAP Steering Committee member Giedrė Tamoliūnė participated in the workshop “Explainable AI in Education” in Brussels, hosted by the European Digital Education Hub (EDEH).

Together with 29 other participants – AI experts from different backgrounds in education and policy from all over Europe delved into the challenges and opportunities of explainable AI (XAI) systems in classrooms. The workshop was organised around three research questions that groups worked on: AI ethics, AI in the classroom, and AI literacy. The results of the group discussions led to the development of actionable recommendations for policymakers.

Some of the main recurring themes that emerged across the recommendations developed by the workshop participants:

• Transparency and Accountability: There is a strong emphasis across all three questions on ensuring transparency in using AI tools in education.
• Ethics and Human-Centered Approach: A major focus was placed on upholding ethical principles and human-centered values in developing and using AI tools.
• Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement: The importance of cooperation among stakeholders—including educators, learners, EdTech companies, and policymakers—was a consistently highlighted theme to ensure data-driven and transparent use of AI in education.
• AI Competence, AI Literacy and Critical Thinking Skills: Educators and learners need adequate digital and AI competencies to critically assess AI systems and their suitability in teaching and learning.

These topics are further developed and discussed in the EDEH working group on explainable AI in education, developing policy recommendations that would help to build trust and transparency around AI systems and enable educators to understand the rationale behind AI-driven decisions.

Read the article on the EEA portal for more details and a final list of concise recommendations.

The European Digital Education Hub (EDEH) is an initiative of the European Commission, funded by the Erasmus+ programme (2021-2027) and operated by a consortium of 13 organisations under a service contract with the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).