On November 21st, alignAI doctoral candidates Julia Li and Simay Toplu held an interactive workshop with 32 students at Samuel-Heinicke-Fachoberschule, organised together with the Europe Direct Network. The session introduced students to the everyday presence of AI systems and encouraged them to reflect on the risks, benefits and responsible use of AI in real-life situations in the EU and beyond.

Students were given an accessible overview of the EU AI Act’s risk levels and the principles of Trustworthy AI, illustrated through familiar examples such as spelling autocorrect, TikTok and Spotify recommendations, navigation tools and conversational AI. Throughout the workshop, Julia Li and Simay Toplu invited students to consider broader societal issues, such as environmental sustainability, misinformation and data governance and how these concerns shape the responsible use of AI systems across Europe.

The core of the workshop focused on small group discussions using three real world use-cases inspired by alignAI’s research themes in education, mental health and online news consumption:

📚 Use Case 1: The Essay Whisperer (Education)
A student wants to make their assignment sound more academic and considers letting an
AI tool “polish” their writing. Is this responsible use or does it cross a line?

🧠 Use Case 2: The ChatGPT Coworker (Mental Health)
A psychologist is unsure how to respond to a potential child safety risk and wonders if ChatGPT can support their professional judgment. Should medical professionals be able to use ChatGPT to inform their decisions?

📰 Use Case 3: The Influenza Influencer (Online News Consumption)
An Instagram influencer warns about a “dangerous new flu variant” but provides no
sources. How do you know that what is being reported is true?

Each group was assigned either a pro or anti chatbot use perspective and asked to defend their stance, encouraging students to think deeply about both the possibilities and limitations of AI tools, and how to present their points to an audience.

The intended learning outcomes included:

• Increased understanding of the risks and benefits of using chatbots in real-life situations.
• Improved awareness of EU AI regulations, norms and protections.
• Reflection on societal issues in the EU and beyond and how they impact AI use (environmental protection, misinformation, data governance, etc.).
• Promotion of responsible and thoughtful use of technology.
• Deeper understanding of how technology and ethics interact.

Throughout the workshop, students were asked to give their feedback on the topics via surveys. Students highlighted that they were interested in how regulations in the EU would affect the systems they used, given the global variations in AI policy. Students also brought up salient topics such as the effect of AI on critical thinking, academic dishonesty and potential overreliance on AI as discussion points. Julia and Simay used the students’ comments to expand on ethical quandaries in AI use and debrief the points touched upon in the debate. The level of engagement amongst the students showed that there was a desire to learn more about AI systems, and that students were already grappling with complex ethical questions.

Overall, the workshop offered students a practical and engaging opportunity to think critically about the ethical use of AI and to become familiar with the ethical and legal frameworks that guide its responsible development.