16-17 October 2024, Glenlead Centre co-hosted the first Generative AI and Education Conference with Digital Education Futures Initiative (DEFI) at Hughes Hall college and the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge.

Chaired by Glenlead’s Head of Education Research, Associate Prof Steven Watson, the conference brought together nearly 140 delegates from multiple countries for two full days of exploration of what AI means and can mean in education.

The full conference title was Cambridge Generative AI in Education Conference 2024: Human-machine collaboration and the expansion of the dialogic space: Addressing the challenges of generative AI integration in education.

Four thought-provoking keynotes were given by Prof Mairéad Pratschke (University of Manchester), Prof Wayne Holmes (University College London), Prof Jean-Gabriel Ganascia (Sorbonne University), and Prof Rupert Wegerif (University of Cambridge).

Conference delegates were treated to 53 presentations on a wide range of topic from what it means to have AI in the classroom to meaning and AI.

Glenlead Executive Director, Dr Ann Kristin Glenster, chaired a panel discussion with Kellie Mote (Jisc), Prof Jenny Gibson (University of Cambridge), Dr Joleen Liang (Squirrel AI), and Prof Li Yuan (Beijing Normal University), where she asks whether AI in education was “friend or a foe.”

After two full days of presentations, conversations, and networking, the key takeaways were:
• AI in education is here to stay and will change the way we teach
• AI offers great opportunities, especially for the Global South and accessibility of Education
• AI must be regulated to be safe and secure, and we are missing proper guardrails

The conversation of AI is expanding from academic misconduct and assessments to pedagogy for the future.