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iRead4Skills Open Sessions bring ethical AI and adult literacy into focus in Santiago de Compostela

Written by iread4skills on July 31, 2025. Posted in News.

On 16 July 2025, the iRead4Skills consortium hosted a set of Open Sessions at CiTIUS – Research Centre in Intelligent Technologies, University of Santiago de Compostela. The event welcomed a broad audience, with over 200 participants joining online and 46 attending in person, reflecting strong interest in the intersection of artificial intelligence, ethics, and adult education.

The programme was designed to encourage dialogue between research, practice, and policy. It began with a comprehensive presentation of the iRead4Skills project, followed by the session Ethical AI: Balancing Innovation and Responsibility in High-Performance Systems, delivered by Marcos Garcia (USC) and Ulises Cortés (UPC/BSC). Their contributions addressed the ethical frameworks required to guide AI development, particularly in sensitive areas such as education and skills assessment.

In the afternoon, the focus shifted to practical implementation. Luís Correia (Mindshaker) presented iRead4Skills in Practice: Showcasing System Capabilities, offering a detailed walkthrough of the platform’s functionalities and its potential to support adult learning professionals. The day concluded with Insights from PIAAC: Ethical Challenges in Adult Education and Literacy Assessment, presented by João Queirós (OECD/PIAAC), who highlighted critical issues related to data ethics and international assessment standards.

Throughout the sessions, a clear message emerged: aligning AI-driven innovation with ethical responsibility is essential for creating meaningful, inclusive solutions in the field of adult education.

The Open Sessions marked a significant milestone in the project’s public outreach and affirmed its commitment to ensuring that technology serves the real needs of adult learners across Europe.

Spotlight on Expert Contributions at Our Santiago de Compostela Meeting

Written by iread4skills on July 31, 2025. Posted in News.

Our recent meeting in Santiago de Compostela was marked by an inspiring exchange of knowledge, ideas, and experiences, enriched by the presence of our Project advisors and dedicated professionals in the field of Adult Learning (AL) and Vocational Education and Training (VET).

We were honored to welcome Zoltán Várkonyi, Secretary General of the European Basic Skills Network (Hungary); João Queirós, Subcoordinator of PIAAC at OECD (Portugal); Ulises Cortés, Professor in Artificial Intelligence and scientific coordinator of the High-Performance Artificial Intelligence group, and former external ethics advisor in the NL4XAI EU network (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya/Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Spain); and Dagmar Monett Díaz, Professor in AI and Software Engineering and Head of the Computer Science Department at Berlin School of Economics and Law (Germany).

Their insights, ranging from the strategic direction of basic skills policies to the ethical dimensions of artificial intelligence in education, greatly enriched our discussions and laid a strong foundation for the next steps of our project.

We were equally thrilled to host professionals from a wide network of AL and VET schools, including: AE Alvalade, ES Baixa da Banheira, AE Moita, AE José Saramago, AE Amadora Oeste, AE Adelaide Cabette, AE Paço de Arcos and ES Peniche.

Their active participation culminated in a dedicated session focused on iRead4Skills. The session allowed educators to share feedback, and explore its potential in addressing skills development needs.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to all contributors for making this meeting a meaningful milestone in our journey.