Education in transition: AI as the key to equal opportunities?

Education in transition: AI as the key to equal opportunities?

On April 9th, 2025 there will be a series of events at the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) that will take place during the week of April 14th to 17th. These events are free for anyone interested, but prior registration may be required. This week, the topic of educational equity and dealing with diversity will be highlighted, an aspect that is becoming increasingly important in the current educational landscape.

On Monday, April 14th, the series of events begins with a lecture by teacher Bernhard Rütten on equal opportunity education in the Association for Lifelong Learning, which will take place from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the glass pavilion on the Essen campus. In the evening at 7:00 p.m., the Studentenwerk offers a Café Lingua in the Café Vision on the Duisburg campus, which serves to improve language skills.

Discrimination through artificial intelligence

The online lecture “Hidden Biases” by Lukas Erle, which takes place on Wednesday, April 16th at 4:00 p.m., offers an interesting perspective on discrimination and justice. The lecture addresses how discriminatory stereotypes can be anchored in AI data. This problem is also being investigated by a new study by the Hamburg research team led by Tanja Carstensen and Kathrin Ganz. This study, funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation, sheds light on the effects of the use of AI, particularly on gender equality in the world of work.

In their study, the researchers state that the demand for human work remains high in female-dominated professions such as nursing. In contrast, the use of AI in areas such as accounting and clerical processing could result in job losses. What is particularly worrying is the insight that women are often placed in lower paid positions when AI-based recruitment systems are used. This makes it clear that new technologies do not automatically promote access to fair jobs, but can actually worsen them.

Educational equity through technology

This makes it all the more important to use the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence in the education sector. According to a report on Unite.ai, AI can help reduce educational inequalities that have been exacerbated by socioeconomic disparities. Recent data shows that in many regions of the world, such as sub-Saharan Africa, there is significant growth in closely linked inequality. Here, for example, 258 million children and young people did not go to school. Training resources can be distributed more equitably through AI, adaptive learning systems can provide personalized instruction, and support teacher training programs to improve the quality of education.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further accentuated educational inequities as not everyone had access to the necessary technologies. Cultural sensitivity and consideration of biases are necessary to ensure that AI applications actually result in all students being optimally supported. These developments are not only of technical but also of ethical importance. Data protection and the fairness of algorithms are under discussion, as is the danger of over-dependence on AI.

Finally, on Thursday, April 17th, the Academic Advice Center will hold a workshop on creating professional application letters. This will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on the Duisburg campus. This series of events makes it clear that the UDE has a central concern to address and initiate the issues of educational equity and the responsible use of technologies.

Overall, it shows that the use of artificial intelligence presents both opportunities and risks, which are increasingly coming into focus these days. The political discourse about the regulation of AI as a key technology and the associated social implications are more important than ever.