SEDAtalk February 2025: Impact and implications of GenerativeAI
Monthly recorded webinar, focusing on important issues in educational change and development.
Emphasis on discussion and sharing good practice
Organised in ‘seasons’ focusing on a main topic (unless we decide on a different format – feedback and suggestions welcome).
What is SEDAtalk?
•Monthly recorded webinar, focusing on important issues in educational
change and development.
• Emphasis on discussion and sharing good practice
• Organised in ‘seasons’ focusing on a main topic
(unless we decide on a different format – feedback and suggestions
welcome).
3.
Processes
• Please addcomments and questions in the chat as we go along.
• Please raise a hand if you would like to join in the conversation.
• The session will be recorded and made available asap.
• The chat will not be included in the recording – we will provide a
summary of any resources or useful links.
4.
Today’s session
Main theme:GenerativeAI in Further and Higher Education: Searching
for ethical and responsible ways forward
Today’s session:
• Quick tech update
• Panel discussion with our guest contributors
Our guests: Louise Drumm and Rosemarie McIlwhan
Open discussion
5.
Tech update:
Last month’scliffhanger:
4 key points (John Naughton):
• “China has caught up”.
• “turbocharge American
anxiety”.
• The US bans did not work.
• “R1 seems to be
a genuinely open-source
model”.
“The AI genie is now really out
of the bottle.”
See at:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025
/feb/01/ai-deepseek-cheap-china-google-apple
A few statsfrom HEPI re
AI/GenAI
• 88% of students using for assessments
• Only 36% have received direct training
from their institution
• “The main reason students use AI is to
save time (51% of students), closely
followed by improving the quality of
their work (50%).”
• “The proportion saying university staff
are ‘well-equipped’ to work with AI has
jumped from 18% in 2024 to 42% in
2025.”
• “There is a growing digital divide in AI
use, with male students, students on
STEM and Health courses and more
socioeconomically advantaged students
more likely to use AI than others.”
See at:
https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/02/26/hepi-kortext-ai-survey-shows-explosive-increase
-in-the-use-of-generative-ai-tools-by-students/
8.
GenAI Trends
• AGI:The race is on.
• Enormous investment.
• International competition.
• Deepseek anyone?
• The OpenAI roadmap.
• The best new GenAI in our homes?
• The agents are coming?
• But what about learning?
9.
Artificial General Intelligence(AGI):
The race is on: money, money, money ….
Enormous investment
See at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/2025-outlook-
genai-the-evolution-and-expectations/articleshow/116613837.cms
10.
Artificial General Intelligence(AGI):
The race is on: international examples.
International development:
India as a leading example
International competition:
Initiatives from India
See at:
https://www.analyticsvidhya.com/blog/2025/02/indias-ai-moment/
See at:
https://www.nature.com
/articles/d44151-025-00
021-5?utm_source=Liv
e+Audience&utm_cam
paign=3f19cbf6e6-natur
e-briefing-ai-robotics-20
240225&utm_medium=
email&utm_term=0_b2
7a691814-3f19cbf6e6-
499207706&mc_cid=3f
19cbf6e6&mc_eid=70d
71dff86
And what will
bethe ‘best’
Generative AI
in your home
by the end
of this year?
14.
And what willbe the ‘best’ Gen AI in your home
by the end of this year? The Amazon answer
The promo The reality?
See at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAPuMivixzg
See at:
https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/alexa
s-big-ai-revamp-might-have-been-delayed-again-and-im-losing-fait
h-amazons-new-assistant-will-be-all-that-smart
The
interview
With the Amazon CEO,
at:
https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=qyjJo85oJ20
&t=157s
15.
The Agents arecoming
One projection from the
industry
“Looking forward to 2025, AI agents are
poised to become far more sophisticated,
autonomous, and versatile. They will go
beyond chatbots, virtual assistants, and simple
task automation to become invaluable
collaborators, decision-makers, and ethical
guides. In the coming years, we can expect AI
agents to not only enhance efficiency and
productivity but also empower humans to
achieve greater levels of creativity,
personalization, and well-being.”
See at:
https://www.analyticsvidhya.com/blog/2024/12/ai-agent-trends/
And
another …
See at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/solrashidi/2025/02/28/the-5-ai-trends-in-2025-a
gents-open-source-and-multi-model/
16.
But what aboutlearning ?
A recent research review:
”more and more research suggests that generic AI models are not only suboptimal for
human learning — they may actually have an actively detrimental effect on the
development of knowledge and skills.”
However,
“if we take a “pedagogy first” approach to building AI models and products, the impact of
AI on human learning could be exponentially positive”
Hardman, P. (2025) The Impact of Gen AI on Human Learning: a research summary.
https://drphilippahardman.substack.com/p/the-impact-of-gen-ai-on-human-learning?utm_source=publication-search (accessed:
26/02/25)
17.
Panel discussion with
ourguest contributors
Main theme:
GenerativeAI in Further and Higher Education: Searching for ethical and
responsible ways forward
Guests:
Dr Louise Drumm, Associate Professor in Digital Education, Edinburgh Napier
University.
Rosemarie McIlwhan, Associate Professor of Digital Pedagogy and Practice,
Heriot-Watt University.
18.
Panel questions
• Whatare the key concerns which we need to face up to when we examine
current applications of GenAI by staff and students?
• What are the likely developments in applications and access to GenAI across
Higher Education which we should be concerned about?
• What are the implications (both short and long-term) for educational
development and for educational developers?
20.
Shared links
Drumm, L.,Beetham, H., Cronin, C., & McIlwhan, R. (2024). Generating AI Alternatives: Collaborating and creating
intersections. Proceedings of the International Conference on Networked Learning , 14(1). https://doi.org/10.54337/nlc.v14i1.8185
The Generating AI Alternatives toolkit – we invite people to use this and share back what they’ve done. It’s licenced under Creative
Commons (CC BY-NC-SA license) so people are welcome to remix it too (indeed we encourage that) provided it’s shared under the
same licence.
Colleagues may find interesting our video provocations on Generating AI Alternatives from the workshop / toolkit. These are think
pieces around GenAI which we hope provoke ideas for others.
I mentioned in relation to quality of research on AI in Education and research:
Gundersen, O. E., & Kjensmo, S. (2018). State of the Art: Reproducibility in Artificial Intelligence.
Beetham, H. (2024) Never mind the quality, feel the speed
GenAI use in higher education: stakeholder perceptions and attitudes – this includes a research report, open data set, infographic
and conversation cards to help staff explore perceptions and attitudes to GenAI.
Crawford, J., Allen, K. A., Pani, B., & Cowling, M. (2024). When artificial intelligence substitutes humans in higher education: the cost
of loneliness, student success, and retention. Studies in Higher Education, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2024.2326956