Learning to live with AI, safely and consciously
When teachers talk about artificial intelligence, the first questions are rarely technical. They are human.
“Can I trust what this tool produces?”, “What happens to my students’ data?”, “How do I make sure AI supports learning, instead of replacing it?”
These are the same questions that Elisa Chierchiello hears most often in classrooms and training sessions across Italy. And they sit right at the heart of this year’s World Safer Internet Day celebrated on 10 February under the theme “Smart tech, safe choices – Exploring the safe and responsible use of AI.”
Elisa has been working as a trainer with Fondazione Mondo Digitale for over six years. She is also a PhD candidate in Computer Science at the University of Turin, with a background in Artificial Intelligence. But when she meets teachers, the conversation rarely starts with algorithms. It starts with concern.
Many educators feel caught between curiosity and caution. AI is already part of students’ lives, yet its role in education is still uncertain. There is excitement, but also fear: fear of losing control, fear of misinformation, fear of doing harm without meaning to. “What I see,” Elisa explains, “is that teachers don’t want to ban AI. They want to understand it well enough to use it responsibly.”
From uncertainty to understanding
This is where Experience AI enters the story. Developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in collaboration with Google DeepMind, and promoted in Italy by Fondazione Mondo Digitale, Experience AI is a free AI literacy programme for teachers at all levels of education. Its aim is simple, yet transformative: to turn uncertainty into knowledge, and fear into competence.
During training sessions, teachers explore how AI systems actually work, where their limits lie, and why concepts such as bias, transparency and data protection matter in everyday teaching.
“As understanding grows, something shifts. AI stops being a black box. It becomes a tool – imperfect, powerful, and in need of guidance”.
Learning to ask better questions
One of the most powerful changes Elisa observes is not about technology, but mindset. Teachers begin to ask better questions, and to help students do the same. “Why did the system produce this answer?”, “What information might be missing?”, “Whose perspective is not represented?”. Through hands-on activities, live webinars and on-demand resources, Experience AI supports this shift by focusing on:
- Ethics and bias, encouraging critical reading of AI-generated content;
- Critical thinking, helping students make informed choices rather than passive ones;
- Inclusion, so that understanding AI becomes a shared right, not a specialised skill for a few.
Safety starts with education
In a country where, according to the DESI 2025 index, fewer than 60% of the population has basic digital skills, talking about online safety without addressing AI literacy is no longer enough.
Safety today is not only about protection. It is about understanding.
This is why, for Fondazione Mondo Digitale, Safer Internet Day is not just a date on the calendar. It is a reminder that education is our strongest safeguard – and our greatest opportunity.
Because smart technologies are not neutral. But with the right guidance, they can help young people grow into confident, critical and responsible citizens. And that is the choice that truly makes technology smart.
