This summer, over 350 participants gathered at MIT to explore a critical question that continues to challenge educators worldwide: How can education remain an equalizer when digital literacy alone is no longer sufficient—especially in a world where students must now be fluent in AI?
The AI + Education Summit, hosted by the MIT RAISE Initiative (Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education), took place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Esteemed speakers from various sectors, including the App Inventor Foundation and the Mayor’s Office of the City of Boston, shared their insights. Among the highlights was an interactive “Hack the Climate” hackathon, where both novice and experienced MIT App Inventor users were tasked with developing an app in just one day to combat climate change.
AI Fluency: More Than Just Facts
During the summit, RAISE principal investigators Eric Klopfer, Hal Abelson, and Cynthia Breazeal discussed the evolving goals of AI fluency. Klopfer emphasized, “Education is not just about learning facts, it’s a developmental process. We need to support teachers in becoming more effective. Teachers must be part of the AI conversation.” Abelson highlighted the immediate impact of computational action, stating, “What’s different now is what kids can do right now.” Breazeal underscored the need for AI-supported learning, stressing that tools like classroom robot companions should complement—rather than replace—teachers and students working together. As Breazeal explained in her talk, “We want people to understand how AI works and design it responsibly. It’s crucial that everyone has an informed voice on how AI integrates into society.”
Showcasing AI Innovation
The summit also featured presentations from the winners of the Global AI Hackathon. Prizes were awarded in two categories: climate and sustainability, and health and wellness. Winning apps addressed issues such as sign-language-to-audio translation, empathy-building through AI characters, and personal health checks using tongue images. Attendees also engaged in hands-on demos for MIT App Inventor and a playground showcasing social robots from MIT’s Personal Robots Group.
Global Perspectives and Practical Use Cases
The diversity of participants—ranging in age, profession, and geography—allowed for a unique blend of perspectives. Conference papers presented real-world case studies on implementing AI in schools, including extracurricular clubs and large-scale experiments in the United Arab Emirates and India. Plenary sessions tackled critical issues like funding AI education and the role of state governments in supporting its adoption. In a keynote speech by Francesca Lazzeri, Microsoft’s Principal Director of AI and Machine Learning Engineering, the focus turned to the challenges and opportunities posed by generative AI in education. Lazzeri emphasized the need for safeguards around fairness, security, and transparency, stating, “Learning generative AI isn’t just for computer science students; it’s for all of us.”
MIT’s Leadership in AI Education
A key contributor to AI education has been the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, which collaborated with MIT long before AI became a widespread educational challenge. Their CoolThink project introduced computational action to students in grades 4-6 across 32 schools in Hong Kong, eventually expanding to over 200 schools. Professor Hal Abelson, a co-founder of MIT’s App Inventor, played a pivotal role in getting the project started. The summit also celebrated the contributions of individuals like Josh Sheldon, Karen Lang, and Mike Tissenbaum, who were instrumental in curriculum development and teacher training.
Ethics and the “Funhouse Mirror” of AI
In the closing keynote, Daniel Huttenlocher, Dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, compared AI to a “funhouse mirror” that distorts reality, presenting both ethical challenges and opportunities. He pointed out that AI is not human intellect or judgment, but something different that requires a thoughtful approach. “One of the areas I’m most excited about is people learning from AI,” Huttenlocher remarked, highlighting the potential for AI to discover solutions that humans have yet to find.
The summit made it clear: AI and education must evolve hand-in-hand, with a focus on collaboration, ethical design, and empowering both teachers and students to thrive in an AI-driven world.
