What can AI do for education and where are its limits? Prof Dr Ulrike Cress addressed these questions in her keynote speech entitled ‘AI as an educational vehicle?’ on June 19 at IDEepolis 2025 in Stuttgart. At the event organised by the Institute for Digital Ethics at the Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart, experts from science, politics and society discussed ethical, social and educational policy issues in dealing with artificial intelligence.

In her presentation, the psychologist emphasised that the idea of using digital media for individual support is not new. It has been pursued for some time with intelligent tutor systems (ITS), for example. Nevertheless, she believes that the potential for learning has not yet been sufficiently utilised, for example in the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT. These technologies enable human-like interaction with AI for the first time - a decisive step forward for educational processes. The dialogue-based nature means that learning content can not only be consumed passively, but actively developed. Learners can ask questions, receive feedback, clarify misunderstandings - and thus enter into an interactive learning process. From a pedagogical point of view, this is a great benefit, as interactive learning is considered to be particularly effective when it comes to sustainable understanding and skills development.

But where there are opportunities, there are also risks: IWM studies show that content from voice assistants such as Alexa or AI-based tools is often adopted uncritically. ‘Over-acceptance’ can lead to false, distorted or even misanthropic content going unchallenged. There is also a risk of de-skilling: if, for example, writing tasks are taken over by AI, basic skills could atrophy. In addition, the use of AI-based tools is a prerequisite: those who already have digital and content-related skills can benefit greatly from using them, while less well-prepared learners could accept incorrect content too easily, for example. There is therefore a risk that the education gap will continue to widen.

Ulrike Cress' conclusion: AI can promote education - or hinder it. The decisive factor is how we organise it. What is therefore needed is the broad promotion of digital literacy among learners and teachers, the targeted development of education-specific AI tools and an ongoing ethical discourse involving all stakeholders.

More about the event: IDEepolis 2025 - Stuttgart Media University (in German)