AI should help children think, not do it for them

Artificial intelligence should neither be banned in schools nor perceived as an unconditional benefit, according to the conclusion reached by participants at a conference on AI in education held in Luxembourg. Minister of Education Claude Meisch emphasised that the role of schools is to serve as a guide, a kind of "compass" that helps children and teenagers use new technologies in a meaningful and responsible way.

According to him, educational institutions are obliged not so much to protect students from AI as to explain how and why to use it. The aim is to develop an informed approach in which technology serves the purposes of education rather than replacing its content.

Guest speaker Henning Beck, a neurobiologist and biochemist, warned against another extreme: ignoring artificial intelligence. He said that those who refuse to interact with AI will "pay a high price" for it in the future. In his opinion, the discussion too often focuses on the risks of technology, while the dangers of rejecting it remain in the shadows. As a result, new ideas may not emerge, and business models and professional opportunities may be missed.

Beck insists that the key skill of the future is the ability to distinguish where AI can be a useful assistant and where human judgement, scepticism and responsibility are needed. He emphasises the importance of a critical attitude towards the results produced by algorithms: students must learn to verify information and recognise errors, distortions and possible manipulation.

According to him, such "AI literacy" cannot be developed theoretically. It can only be developed through practice, experimentation, and analysis of one's own mistakes. Beck compared this process to learning to ride a bike: skills are acquired not through instructions, but through trial and error. In his opinion, schools should become a safe space for such experiments.

At the same time, he cautioned against using AI solely as a means of saving time. If a student instructs an algorithm to write essays or analyse texts without getting involved in the work themselves, the educational value is greatly reduced. The price of such an approach is dependence on technology, increased suggestibility and, ultimately, the loss of intellectual autonomy. True freedom, according to Beck, lies in the ability to think independently, using AI as a support, but not as a replacement.