Understanding artificial intelligence to educate for the future
In a world where artificial intelligence is transforming the way we study, work and access information, schools are called upon to play a decisive role: guiding students and teachers in the development of critical, informed and inclusive skills. It is from this need that Experience AI was born, the programme promoted by Fondazione Mondo Digitale as the Italian partner of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, co-developed with Google DeepMind and supported by Google.org.
The goal is ambitious yet practical: to train over 7,000 teachers by 2026, providing tools to understand how AI works and integrate it into educational programmes in an ethical, responsible and accessible manner.
For this reason, Experience AI does not merely introduce new tools, but offers an educational pathway focused on digital citizenship and an understanding of the mechanisms underpinning artificial intelligence. The aim is to help students and teachers develop analytical skills, a critical mindset and awareness of the social impact of emerging technologies.
Practical and participatory training at ITIS Armellini
On 26 May, the main hall of the Giuseppe Armellini secondary school in Rome hosted a training day involving around 70 teachers. The programme proposed by Experience AI alternates between theoretical insights and practical workshops, with an approach focused on hands-on experimentation. Topics covered included: the difference between rule-based and data-driven systems, how machine learning works, decision trees and the critical analysis of datasets [see the article AI is learned by doing].
Considerable attention was also devoted to the FATPS framework – Fairness, Accountability, Transparency, Privacy and Safety – to reflect on the ethical implications of artificial intelligence and the importance of designing fairer, safer and more transparent technologies.
During the workshops, teachers experimented with training classification models, exploring key issues such as bias in data and the risk of anthropomorphising AI systems.
Schools facing change
The testimonies gathered reveal a shared awareness: artificial intelligence is already part of everyday school life and requires new educational skills. For headteacher Elisa Pietropaoli, investing in training means preparing students and teachers to understand a transformation set to have a profound impact on society and work: “Artificial intelligence is revolutionising our lives and the way we teach and learn. I believe that, especially for an institution that wishes to develop talent in this sector, it is essential to have an in-depth understanding of the subject, grasping not only the educational implications but also the prospects for development.”
The headteacher also emphasises how AI can provide concrete support for certain organisational processes within the school, whilst highlighting the need to update teaching approaches and programmes in a context where generative tools are also changing the way content is planned and produced.
For Angelo Ciufo, a computer science teacher, one of the most significant aspects that emerged during the training concerns the issue of bias and how machine learning models work:
“The part I found most interesting was the one on bias. I think it’s stimulating for the students to understand the whole system behind it: self-learning and errors caused by data.”
Leonardo Luchetti, an electronics teacher, also highlights the urgency of building a common language between schools and the younger generation: “Artificial intelligence has now made a forceful entry into schools, and it is only right that we teachers keep pace with our students.”
This is a cross-disciplinary interest that also involves the humanities, as Andrea Weiss, an English teacher, explains: “Students have been using artificial intelligence for some time now. It is important that we teachers also keep up to date so that we can guide them towards a more informed use of it.”
