Keynote on AI at First Indire Conference

The 1st Indire Conference, bringing together research, experiences, and ideas for a healthy digitally-integrated world, will feature Professor Antonio Martínez-Arboleda (LCS) as a keynote speaker.

The Indire Conference, a pioneering initiative focusing on digital innovation and open dialogue, will feature Professor Antonio Martínez-Arboleda, from the School of Languages, Cultures, and Societies of the University of Leeds, as a keynote speaker. This event is led by Professor Raafat Saade of the Beijing Institute of Technology and Professor Antonis Mouhtaropoulos, Dean of Digital Learning and EdTech at Metropolitan College, Greece, and will take place at the beginning of July 2024 in Chalkidiki, Greece.

Professor Martínez-Arboleda’s keynote will build on his recent guest lecture, "The Futures of Higher Education in the Age of AI". His presentation will examine potential futures for university education, which will be radically shaped by advancements in AI technology, exploring both optimistic and cautionary perspectives, and advocating for a Knowledge Equity approach to AI.

The keynote will address significant themes such as the Political Economy of AI, referencing the work of key scholars in that field, integrating these reflections into current educational debates on the application of AI in university educational contexts. Finally, it will discuss the broader implications for the Higher Education sector, in need for enhanced forms of collaboration, amid the increasing role played by technology corporations in research and development of AI.

Drawing from his own scholarly work, including "101 creative ideas to use AI in education, A crowdsourced collection” with Professor Crissi Nerantzi, Dr Sarah Abegglen, and Dr Marianna Karatsiori, Martínez-Arboleda will employ a narrative approach intertwined with AI-generated visual aids. His aim is to provoke creative and bold reflections on how AI can be feasible harnessed to enhance the quality of university education and reinforce the autonomy of students, educators, and institutions as agents for social change.

The conference also marks the call for contributions to the Journal of Digital Innovation for Humanity (JDIH). This peer-reviewed journal encourages a wide array of submissions that not only cover original research but also include theoretical discussions, position papers, and literature reviews. The journal aims to centralize discussions about the impact of digital technologies on individual, societal, and global scales.

The Indire Conference promises to provide a platform for critical reflections on the role and future of digital technologies in education, inviting educators, researchers, and policymakers to engage in meaningful dialogue.