Weekly AI & Education Update: April 24, 2025
As I mentioned last week, I am trying something new and seeing how much I can keep up with. As some of you know, I am collaborating on the Ai-for-education.org initiative through my work at the Team4Tech Foundation.
As part of that work we are focused on supporting education in under-resourced communities. In my role, I have to be sure to keep up with what is happening on a global scale.
I am on week two of trying to share what I am learning about (let’s see how this works). Here is a recap from this week from my little corner of the world.
🌍 Africa
At the Huawei Education Summit, UNESCO officials emphasized the need to incorporate AI into African school curricula, highlighting AI-generated lesson plans and adaptive learning platforms. https://english.news.cn/africa/20250424/dc258701c65e49478b13a2ea94b86bef/c.html
Google has opened applications for its 2025 Accelerator Africa program, aiming to support AI-driven startups with mentorship, cloud credits, and training to address Africa’s challenges. https://techafricanews.com/2025/04/21/google-opens-2025-accelerator-africa-applications-for-ai-startups
At the World Economic Forum 2025, Will.i.am discussed the disparity between AI advancements and educational investments in Africa, urging for inclusive AI policies and workforce transition strategies. https://esgnews.com/will-i-am-addresses-ai-education-and-equity-at-africa-house-davos-2025
🌏 Asia
China has pledged to make AI classes mandatory in primary and secondary schools from September 1, 2025. Students will be required to take at least eight hours of AI class per year under the new mandate aimed at cultivating a technologically inclined generation for the future.
https://www.asiaeducationreview.com/technology/news/china-to-introduce-mandatory-ai-education-in-schools-by-2025-nwid-3573.html
Guangdong Province Introduces AI Framework for Early Education
South China’s Guangdong province has introduced a new framework and guidance on artificial intelligence education for primary and secondary school students, aiming to boost students’ AI literacy from an early age. In important quote in this article, “Teachers need to move from being AI users to AI education designers, and students should transition from technology experiencers to innovation leaders.” https://www.chinadailyasia.com/hk/article/610014
🌎 Latin America
This was from a few weeks ago but important to highlight. The Brookings article discusses how generative AI can assist teachers in Latin America by personalizing instruction and providing feedback, especially in resource-constrained classrooms. Probably the highlight sentence for me: “Still, AI’s benefits are contingent on how it is integrated into the classroom.”
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-ai-can-support-teachers-in-latin-america
I was just in a meeting this morning where I heard more about this. Chile’s National Center for Artificial Intelligence announced the launch of LatamGPT, a regional AI model developed with over 30 institutions to reflect Latin America’s multicultural reality. LatamGPT will be open, which means it will allow more people in Latin America and the Caribbean to study, use, and improve it, building upon it.
https://ticotimes.net/2025/02/16/latin-america-develops-regional-ai-to-preserve-cultural-identity
🇺🇸 United States
The State Bar of California disclosed that AI was used to develop some multiple-choice questions in the February 2025 bar exam, leading to debates over fairness and validity. This is important in that it calls for greater guard rails and human oversight.
https://apnews.com/article/california-bar-exam-artificial-intelligence-questions-94777bbaca7a1473c86b651587cf80c0
In collaboration with AWS, the University of Pittsburgh opened a center to integrate AI into sports science, offering internships and training in AI and cloud technologies.
https://www.axios.com/local/pittsburgh/2025/04/24/ai-takes-the-field-at-pitt
Google announced that U.S. college students can access its One AI Premium plan for free until June 30, 2026, providing tools like Gemini Advanced and 2TB of cloud storage. This is on the heels of OpenAI offering ChatGPT plus for college students as they wrap up the semester.
https://www.theverge.com/news/650921/google-one-ai-premium-gemini-free-college-education
In probably the most anticipated news of this week, President Trump signed executive orders focusing on AI education, including integrating AI into K-12 schools and establishing a task force to advance AI literacy among American youth. https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-advances-ai-education-for-american-youth/ My personal notes on the order and some thinking on what this might mean if really implemented can be found at https://bit.ly/AIED-EO
