Panel: PERCEPTION AND UNDERSTANDING OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE- THEOLOGICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL, ANTHROPOLOGICAL, AND ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES



879.1 - EDUCATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE: THE "MIRROR" CHARACTER OF AI, TECHNO-MORAL VIRTUES, AND MORAL UPSKILLING AND DESKILLING

AUTHORS:
Žalec B. (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Theology ~ Ljubljana ~ Slovenia)
Text:
The speaker develops a normative framework for education in the digital age grounded in the philosophy of technology. The main points are as follows. First, the "mirror" character of contemporary artificial intelligence (AI) does not introduce a new moral authority; rather, it reflects and at the same time refracts (filters, amplifies, distorts) existing human habits, attitudes, prejudices, and aspirations. This calls for education to consciously shape practices of interpretation, recognition, and the delimitation or limitation of these "mirror" effects. Second, an analysis of moral deskilling and moral upskilling shows that different modes of technology use simultaneously undermine and enable the development of moral skills. The task of education is to harness these dynamics for the cultivation of techno-moral virtues. Third, the speaker offers a catalog-like yet dynamic vision of virtues for the 21st century (e.g., prudence, courage, justice, truthfulness, patience, temperance, honesty), which he operationalizes for curricular decisions, assessment, and rules governing the use of AI in teaching. He concludes with seven criteria for the responsible use of AI in education and with a model of how the mirror character of AI can be used as a didactic opportunity for reflection, dialogue, and the strengthening of human practical wisdom.