SYMPOSIUM ON AI, EDUCATION, AND THE LEARNING SCIENCESMAY 8, 2025

Hilton Orrington Evanston
1710 Orrington Ave
Evanston, Illinois 60201

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), specifically the development of foundation models, have revolutionized the field of machine learning and made generative AI systems widely accessible to the public. These developments are rapidly impacting teachers, learners, and learning environments, producing both renewed interest in the learning opportunities afforded by AI systems and increasing concerns about their negative impacts on learners and learning communities.

In this symposium, we will explore the role of AI in education through the lens of the learning sciences. Conversations at the intersection of AI and education often center a belief that learning should be quantified, personalized, and optimized for efficiency. In contrast, the interdisciplinary field of the learning sciences centers the understanding that real-world learning is complex, nuanced, and difficult to measure; that it arises through relationships, collaboration, and communities; and that it is situated in complex sociocultural, political, and economic contexts. Through this symposium, we ask: how can we conceptualize the role of AI in education given this nuanced perspective on how learning works?

This event is sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the McCormick School of Engineering, the School of Education and Social Policy, the Office for Research, and the Cognitive Science Program: