🔮 Pipe dream or reality? – Keynote on AI literacy at Inholland
Last week I had the honour of kicking off the day with a keynote at the TOI Domain Day of Hogeschool Inholland, in the impressive Corpus Congress Centre in Leiden. A day full of workshops, inspiration and encounters – but also a day in which we could pause for a moment to reflect on the future of technology, education and… ourselves.
🧠 The kick-off: AI through the lens of 2025, 2030 and 2050
In my keynote I took the audience on a journey from the ancient Greeks to the near future. From Alan Turing to generative AI. From voice cloning in the style of the Terminator to the European AI Act that affects us all. What does it mean to be AI literate in a world where your smartphone recognises your face, algorithms predict your preferences and chatbots mark your work?
We looked ahead:
- 2025: GenAI in every classroom.
- 2027: AI assistants as feedback buddies.
- 2030: Adaptive, tailor-made learning pathways.
- 2050: ASI (Artificial Super Intelligence)… are you up for it?
🔁 And we looked back…
At the same time, we also reflected on the road we have already travelled. Because long before there was any talk of ChatGPT or deepfakes, there were:
- The ancient Greeks, who were already philosophising about thinking machines.
- Alan Turing and John McCarthy, the founders of AI and computational thinking.
- LAN parties, where young people set up their first digital networks.
- Autotune, once a revolution in music which, just like AI, analyses and optimises patterns.
- And of course: downloading at 64 kbps. Waiting for a 300 kb photo was the norm back then.
The past shows how quickly technology develops – and how important it is to remain aware and critical in that development. Not only as a techie, but also as a teacher, coach or student.
⚠️ Ethics and regulation
But it didn't stop at visions of the future. We also dived into the new rules of the EU AI Act, with important deadlines:
- From 2 February 2025, manipulative AI applications in education are prohibited.
- Think of AI that tries to elicit emotional reactions without consent, social scoring or the automatic categorisation of students based on biometrics.
A clear signal: education itself must become AI literate. Not sitting back, but actively thinking along, joining in and helping to build.
🛠️ The AI Literacy Companion
Especially for education professionals, I also introduced the platform www.ailiteracycompanion.eu – an open and practical place for anyone who wants to get to grips with AI in the classroom. From hands-on examples to ethical dilemmas. Because understanding AI is no longer a nice-to-have, but an absolute necessity for every teacher and student.
🙌 Thanks and inspiration
Thanks to all participants, colleagues at Inholland and the organisers for the warm welcome. And extra compliments to the students who were involved in the workshops and “Journey through the human” – what a lovely setting to talk with one another about who we are and what makes us human in an increasingly intelligent world.
Below you can see an impression of the morning 📸👇
Would you also like to get started with AI literacy in your programme or team? Or are you curious about the Feedback Companion for educational institutions? Feel free to send me a message via onderwijsorakel.nl – I'm happy to think along with you.
🚀 Together we make education future-proof.
