THE UNIVERSITY of the Philippines-Los Baños Learning Resource Center recently held a webinar entitled “AI-Yos! How to Work Smarter with Artificial Intelligence Tools.”

The event, held via online conferencing and live streaming on Facebook, aimed to help educators and students understand and maximize the benefits of artificial intelligence, its ethical use and the future of AI tools in the education sector.

The webinar, moderated by Sheryl Edd Hermosa-Ebron, University Extension Associate, featured four sessions on different aspects of AI in education.

In the first session, “AI-yan Na! How Artificial Intelligence is Changing the Education Sector,” Dr. Eugene Rex L. Jalao, coordinator of the Artificial Intelligence Program at UP Diliman, emphasized the importance of investing in AI education. He encouraged students to take AI subjects.

“We all need to invest in AI! If you’re a student, take AI subjects. You will be able to use these AI tools in the future and know their advantages and disadvantages,” Jalao said.

The second session, “Are We R-AI-dy? How to Develop Competencies in the Artificial Intelligence Era,” was conducted by Dr. Marie Grace A. Gomez, a professor of the College of Education at UP Diliman. She discussed developing competencies in the AI era and the importance of being responsible digital citizens.

“We have a wonderful online community. We have wonderful developments in technology, particularly in the field of AI. But we must always remember that we should be responsible digital citizens,” she said.

The third session, “AI-yos lang ba? How to Ensure the Ethical Use of AI in Learning and Teaching,” focused on the ethical use of AI in both learning and teaching and was moderated by Krissah Marga Taganas, head of the Philosophy Division of the Department of Humanities, College of Arts and Sciences at UPLB. She emphasized the ethics behind using AI tools and the need to upskill and adopt AI.

“Whether we like it or not. Whether we resist it or not, we need to upskill and adapt. We need to recognize first that AI will be here to stay,” Taganas said.

In the final session, “What’s the AI-mpact? How to imagine the future of Education with AI tools,” moderators Dr. Mark Oliver Llangco, UPLB General Education Program director, and Dr. Elenita Que, faculty member and program coordinator of the Educational Technology Area at the UP College of Education, and other resource persons discussed how to imagine the future of education with AI tools.

Student Hanz Benedic Aguilar, a BS Biology major, expressed concern about the potential consequences of abusing AI systems.

“I think of its danger. Relating to (artificial intelligence) systems that we have today, we might abuse it, leading to various consequences,” he said.

John Mervin Embate, director of the UPLB LRC, stressed the need to integrate new technologies and learning models to enhance the learning experience.

“I think the beauty of our education system is that it is flexible and adaptive. And through that, we could integrate these technologies and new learning models, not only to adapt to the changing social context but also to enhance and enrich the learning experience,” Embate said.