{"id":44463,"date":"2026-01-09T10:38:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T09:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/media-and-learning.eu\/?p=44463"},"modified":"2026-01-15T14:41:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T13:41:12","slug":"amai-inclusive-ai-education-for-the-digitally-vulnerable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/media-and-learning.eu\/subject\/lifelong-learning\/amai-inclusive-ai-education-for-the-digitally-vulnerable\/","title":{"rendered":"Amai! Inclusive AI Education for the Digitally Vulnerable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Isaak Vandermaesen<\/strong>, Scivil, the Flemish knowledge centre for citizen science, Belgium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digital vulnerability affects four out of ten Belgians[1]<\/a> spanning diverse ages, socio-cultural backgrounds, and educational levels. Despite this diversity, these groups are often overlooked in AI-related educational initiatives. The amai!<\/a> initiative in Flanders tackled this challenge through the development of a customised educational package and workshop tailored to the teachers of the digitally vulnerable, about the subject deepfakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project amai!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Amai! was a mission-oriented initiative in Flanders (2019\u20132026) designed to inform citizens about AI and involve them in its local development. Its approach revolved around three pillars: Information, Ideas, and Impact. First, Amai! raised awareness through workshops and lectures where science communicators explained AI applications and encouraged public reflections. Second, it gathered over 1,000 citizen ideas during these sessions and at science festivals. Finally, these ideas formed the starting point of funded AI projects addressing societal challenges. After expert review, citizens helped select the projects and stayed involved throughout development, ensuring co-creation and democratic decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amai!-project, led by the Flemish Knowledge Centre Data & Society and Scivil, the citizen science knowledge and research center, prioritised safe, responsible, and societally relevant AI applications while making their co-creative processes as inclusive and democratic as possible. Yet the team repeatedly encountered a gap between its ambition to inform the most diverse public and the large, often invisible group of digitally vulnerable people in Flanders. In 2024, amai! responded by developing AI educational materials specificallu for a segment of this target group: low-literate adults in Flanders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-defining needs<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

By its fourth cycle, amai! had the network to convene stakeholders and co-design materials for this new target group. The team partnered with civil society actors working with low-literate adults and organized focus groups with teachers in basic adult education (LIGO) to identify learners\u2019 most pressing AI-related needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discussions uncovered an unexpected insight: teachers themselves also needed foundational and practical understanding of AI in education. Within staff rooms, AI often felt distant and opaque, and these uncertainties were amplified in communities facing literacy and technology barriers. Amai! therefore expanded the target group to include teachers, aiming to make AI both explainable and engaging for low-literate adults while empowering educators with concrete methods and materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Consulting with the teachers in basic education for adults, we defined the following needs for students and teachers in adult education:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raise Awareness<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n