What is the problem?
The ability to recognise and deal with ethical and human rights aspects of emerging digital technologies (such as AI) depends on awareness and understanding, which is currently lacking throughout the educational system.
Who should act?
European Commission, Council of Europe, national governments, in particular national education bodies, any bodies involved in designing curricula,
The Recommendation
Teaching digital competence needs to be coupled with education about its ethical and human rights aspects.
Update current technology-oriented curricula to ensure that ethical and human rights aspects of AI and related technologies are covered. Specific curricula should include:
- Formal education
- Primary education
- Secondary education
- Relevant undergraduate and postgraduate courses
- Non-formal education.
Key Considerations
Key considerations in the creation and/or implementation of education about ethics and digital technologies are that it complements the following initiatives:
- Digital Competence Framework for Educators (DigCompEdu).
- Policy and investment recommendations of the HLEG on AI
- Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027.
The relevance of education pathways is shown by SHERPA work with regards to:
- Training of AI ethics officer
- Overview of the education pathways by the European Agency
SHERPA Contribution
The importance of education was introduced by the SHERPA stakeholder board and was investigated further in the Online Survey and the Delphi Study.
SHERPA has provided:
- Accounts of ethical and human rights issues of AI as part of its case study research.
- Likely future issues as discussed in the SHERPA scenarios.
- An analysis of the human rights aspects.
- Two sets of guidelines for operationalization of Ethics by Design for developers and for users of smart information systems.
- Suggestions from Stakeholders on the possible role of Education, as discussed in the analysis of the Stakeholders’ Focus groups and Interviews
