CHEF event: Are we asking the right questions?
Two cautionary tales and some practical advice for GenAI in Education
Speaker
Associate Professor, Dr Pantelis M. Papadopoulos, University of Twente, Netherlands.
Date and time
May 4, 2026, at 12.00-13.00 CEST (UTC+2)
Place
Physical event at Danish School of Education, Nobelparken, Jens Chr. Skous Vej 4, 8000 Aarhus C.
The event is also open for online participation via Zoom. A Zoom-link will be shared with the registered participants shortly before the event.
Chair of the event is Professor Søren Bengtsen, Co-Director of CHEF, Danish School of Education, Aarhus University
Abstract
I am bad at drawing, yet I rarely blame my pen for the quality of my drawings. When it comes to educational technology, though, the discussion often focuses on the shortcomings and risks that any new technology has for education. Since November 2022, the terms ChatGPT, LLM, and GenAI have become common in the vocabulary of teachers and students across the world. The boom in scientific publications and the subsequent broad adoption of GenAI tools within the educational context made AI fashionable. As the hype is subsiding and a new norm is established, more time and space are devoted to the discussion of what GenAI can and cannot do, and to the role of the teacher and the student within this new landscape. The talk will discuss common errors and misconceptions around GenAI, drawing also from UNESCO’s Guidance for Generative AI for Education and Research and the EU’s AI Act. Next, two cautionary tales will be presented based on recent studies. The first one will show how, despite best intentions, GenAI can increase the gap between weak and strong students, fundamentally unable to replace the holistic view that teachers have over their students. The second one will discuss the agnoagentia phenomenon: the illusory perception of agency that emerges when learners interact with GenAI tools, unaware that their enacted agency has been displaced. The talk will conclude with practical advice for teachers and researchers on how to make this, otherwise great, new tool support effectively a solid pedagogy.
About the presenter
Pantelis M. Papadopoulos is a Computer Scientist working in the intersection between learning sciences and technology for the last 25 years. While he is interested in emerging and innovative technologies, and especially AI and conversational agents, his work underlines the importance of a solid pedagogy. At the same time, he maintains that technology matters and not all technologies are built equally. Dr. Papadopoulos held academic positions in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (Qatar), and the United Nations (Macau SAR, China), before joining Aarhus University in 2014. Since 2020, he has been an Associate Professor of Instructional Technology at the University of Twente (Netherlands). He has published more than 100 articles on edtech in international conferences and journals. He is a member of the editorial board of the JCAL journal and a Leading Guest Editor for the Journal of Learning and Individual Differences.
Personal links:
https://people.utwente.nl/p.m.papadopoulos
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pantelis-m-papadopoulos-736b6147
Useful links
UNESCO Guidance for Generative AI for Education and Research
EU AI Act: first regulation on artificial intelligence
Adverse effects of intelligent support of CSCL—the ethics of conversational agents