AI in the educational system

At the end of 2023, the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research set up a group of experts from universities and teacher training colleges to develop and support measures for the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in the education system. A central component of this school package is the AI pilot schools project (https://www.bmbwf.gv.at/Themen/schule/zrp/ki.html), which aims to investigate the potential and challenges of AI in everyday school life.

As part of this project, 114 schools from all federal states were selected to test and evaluate AI learning software. The aim is to demonstrate the possibilities and limitations of learning with AI. Scientific support is being provided by the University of Graz, which is using the project results to produce a practical guide for all schools, published in open access, and to conduct a status quo survey to answer relevant questions about the current use of AI in schools, the skills and attitudes of teachers and the opportunities and challenges.

Project management
The project is led by Assistant Professor MMag Dr Elke Höfler (Institute of Romance Studies), in close collaboration with Assistant Professor Dr Manuel Ninaus (Institute of Psychology). Both are conducting research as part of the Cluster BI2D - Educational Technology(s): interdisciplinary, innovative, disruptive in the Future Education Programme of the University of Graz.