The Faculty of Arts recently hosted the latest instalment of Arts After Dark, drawing more than 250 participants for an engaging discussion on the opportunities and challenges of AI in education.

Dr Paul Wood - Macquarie School of Education alum and Executive Director for Teaching and Learning Support at the NSW Department of Education – hosted a keynote presentation showcasing the state’s integration of AI into the classroom through the NSWEduChat initiative. Dr Wood discussed how the AI tool "aims to support teachers by enhancing lesson delivery, reducing workload, building AI skills safely and addressing risks and biases to protect students."

Following the keynote, Dr Wood joined a panel discussion featuring Professor Matt Bower, from the Macquarie School of Education and Dr Jodie Torrington, Manager of the Macquarie University Teachers’ Learning Hub, with contributions from Dr Tamika Worrell, from the Centre of Critical Indigenous Studies, in absentia.

The conversation explored themes including the important role of teachers beyond providing education, including social and relationship building, how to use AI effectively through prompts, assessments and embedding critical thinking, the risks of utilising AI as an information tool instead of a learning tool and concerns of marginalisation and inaccurate representation of different groups.

The discussion was hosted by Professor Peter Greste from the School of Communication, Society and Culture, and was followed by a dynamic Q&A. There were over 70 questions submitted from the audience from a range of perspectives, including those of teachers, parents and students themselves.

To continue the Q&A conversation, Professor Bower and Dr Worrell have this week joined Dr Torrington on the Teachers’ Learning Hub Hub Chats, where they answer some of the most popular questions from the night that were not able to be answered due to time restrictions.

A recording of the event is now available.