How do we shape AI as a tool for critical thinking and creativity, not just an ‘answer machine’?
One challenge in education today is: how do we leverage AI for improved learning without compromising our cognitive ability, or losing our creativity.
Early signals
Setting guardrails for responsible use
Governments and universities are creating policies that balance AI experimentation with expectations on integrity, transparency, and inclusion.
- East Africa – Aga Khan University (2023): Guidelines permit AI use with requirements for disclosure, academic integrity checks, and periodic review. (AKU, 2023)
- Ibero-America – OEI Guide (2025): A regional framework offers ministries and teacher-training institutes principles for critical, inclusive, human-rights-aligned AI adoption. (OEI, July 2025)
Shifting AI to an object of inquiry and reflection
Education systems are issuing guidance for students to interrogate AI outputs – checking accuracy, bias, and ethics – so AI becomes something to analyse, not just use.
South Africa – Wits University (2023): University guidance asks lecturers to design assignments where students critique chatbot responses and submit analysis with evidence checks. (Wits University, 2023)
Chile – PotencIA el Aprendizaje (2025): A ministry-issued guide prompts schools to reflect on what makes us human and how to use AI responsibly and creatively. (Chile Ministry of Education, March 2025)
Framing AI as a tool for innovation
Ministries are hosting challenges and camps where students design and prototype AI solutions for real-world issues, positioning AI as a tool for creativity and problem-solving.
- Indonesia – Gen-AI Innovation Challenge (2025): A national programme invites vocational students to prototype AI applications for local community needs. (BPPTIK, February 2025)
- Thailand – ASEAN Youth Camp (2025): A ministry-led youth camp integrates AI hackathons where students tackle environmental challenges in team-based projects. (Ministry of Education Thailand, June 2025)
Reflections:
- Though concerns about AI-enabled cheating and guidelines for use in education are still prominent, space has also opened up for exploring use cases of AI as a tool to further explorative learning and innovation.
- The question of AI’s impact on cognitive function and development is a live one. With recent studies on the impact of GenAI in cognitive function suggesting reliance on AI tools can decrease the development of core learning skills.
Use cases, policies, and frameworks like the ones captured above should be considered and tested, to explore the ways in which AI tools might enhance learning experiences while also allowing learners to develop life-long learning skills.
Methodology behind it
- 763 signals about Enabling Learners
- 53% of this week’s signals came from Asia
- 2 humans provided curation
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We’d love to hear from you! What’s been shaping your thinking on AI? Drop your thoughts (and reading recommendations) in the comments. Explore more from EdTech Hub’s AI Observatory.
EdTech Hub’s AI Observatory is made possible with the support of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
