The International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) conference, held in Helsinki, Finland, from June 10-13, 2025, gathered researchers and practitioners in the learning sciences. The central theme, “Educating for world-making: Envisioning and enacting sustainable solutions to global crises,” highlighted the importance of leveraging education to address pressing societal challenges. Within this broad theme, a significant part of the discourse revolved around the role of artificial intelligence in shaping future learning environments.

At the conference, alignAI doctoral candidate Xiaoyu Wang (TUM) delved into critical issues related to AI ethics in education, including concerns about algorithmic bias, data privacy and the responsible integration of AI tools. Many presentations and discussions explored how to design and regulate AI-powered educational tools to ensure they are effective, fair, transparent and equitable. Papers presented covered topics, such as using AI for analysing collaborative learning, integrating AI into specific subjects (Zhong et al., 2025) and understanding and discussing the ethical implications of human-AI collaboration in learning (Keune et al., 2025). This emphasis on ethics and human values directly aligns with the core mission of the alignAI project and provided Wang with important first-hand networking experience with researchers in this area.

A key moment of the conference was the keynote address by Prof. Dr. Anna Keune, a Principal Investigator of the alignAI project. Her keynote, titled “The Active Role of Materials in Learning and Design”, echoed the conference’s broader focus on innovative and transformative approaches to learning. Prof. Keune’s research, at the intersection of learning sciences and design, investigates how the materiality of learning—encompassing physical and digital tools and environments—actively shapes what and how people learn. The keynote featured work on AI Ethics and the need to consider co-creation processes as a means to foster AI ethics learning, a core aspect that Wang’s dissertation seeks to build on.

All in all, participating in the ISLS annual meeting 2026 was an excellent opportunity to connect with researchers globally. The diverse and international audience, with backgrounds including computer science, education, psychology and sociology, fostered a rich exchange of ideas. Discussions with researchers also working on AI ethics and education with young people were particularly insightful. Attending the sessions supported Wang in reflecting on the implications for her own research into responsible AI development in educational contexts, where explainability, transparency and creativity are essential elements.

References:

Keune, A., Hurtado, S., & Simšič, Ž. (2024). Exploring AI Ethics through Educational Scenarios with AI Generative Arts Apps. In Lindgren, R., Asino, T. I., Kyza, E. A., Looi, C. K., Keifert, D. T., & Suárez, E. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 18th International Conference of the Learning Sciences – ICLS 2024 (pp. 1818-1821). International Society of the Learning Sciences.

Zhong, T., Zhu, G., Lim, K. Y., & Ong, Y. S. (2025). Ai-Augmented Thinking: Exploring Human-Ai Interaction in Generative Ai-Supported Programming Learning. In Rajala, A., Cortez, A., Hofmann, R., Jornet, A., Lotz-Sisitka, H., & Markauskaite, L. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 19th International Conference of the Learning Sciences – ICLS 2025 (pp. 2907-2908). International Society of the Learning Sciences.