ECNU Review of Education reports on how global education leaders are responding to AI
Article highlights how global education leaders confront AI’s rise, calling for collaboration, ethics, and human-centered teaching
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This report captures insights from the 2024 Global Education Deans Forum, where deans and academic leaders from 29 countries gathered in China to explore the future of education in the age of AI. Through keynote speeches, collaborative discussions, and reflections on digital transformation, the forum highlighted global concerns around equity, ethics, and the irreplaceable role of human connection in teaching and learning.
view moreCredit: Professor G. Williamson McDiarmid from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
The latest annual meeting for the Global Education Deans Forum brought together 53 representatives from 40 institutions across 29 countries in Shanghai and Lijiang, China. An article published online in ECNU Review of Education on May 27, 2025, attempts to capture how a group of global education leaders view the promise and perils of AI amidst a rapidly changing educational landscape.
The Global Education Deans Forum (GEDF) is an annual meeting co-organized by East China Normal University (China) and the University of Kansas (USA). The inaugural meeting took place in October 2018 in Shanghai, with 30 deans from 16 countries across six continents. The most recent forum was held from October 31 to November 2, 2024, in both Shanghai and Lijiang, China, welcoming 53 representatives from 40 institutions across 29 countries.
In the opening remarks, Dean Zhenguo Yuan from East China Normal University outlined a shift in education research from the “small science era” led by individual scholars, to the “big science era,” defined by interdisciplinary collaboration between humans and machines. He emphasized the growing need for cross-disciplinary innovation, international platforms for idea exchange, and the creative application of AI technologies.
In his remarks, Dean Rick Ginsberg from the University of Kansas reflected on progress made on initiatives that were planned at past GEDF meetings in Shanghai, Boston, and Dublin. These included establishing thematic continuity, developing organizational bylaws, and launching projects like the “Deans’ Dialogue” online series. He stressed the urgency of building a global network of education leaders to collaboratively navigate the AI era.
During the discussions sessions that followed, deans reported on how their higher education institutions, faculty, and students are responding to generative AI. In small groups, participants explored the impact of AI on: teacher education, school reform, the economy and culture; and instruction and evaluation. Issues that emerged included: equitable access to AI tools, the need for responsible use policies, and the broader societal implications of AI-driven education.
The closing session featured real-time AI-based transcribed translation. In closing, Dean Yuan noted that despite the benefits of machine translation, the presence of human translators, faculty, and student volunteers remained essential in fostering understanding, warmth and connection. He pointed out that while AI handles repetitive tasks well, creativity, emotional connection, and personal engagement remain distinctly human domains. As summarized in the McDiarmid and Yin (2025) article, GEDF reinforced the message that “the heart of education lies in the unique human qualities.”
To explore more about the Global Education Deans Forum, including related articles, videos, and updates, please visit:
- ECNU Review of Education: journals.sagepub.com/home/ROE
- GEDF X account: @GEDF2018
- GEDF videos on YouTube: youtube.com/@ecnureviewofeducation6270
This summary draws on the McDiarmid and Yin (2025) article, official meeting notes, and the second author’s meeting experiences. While it captures key themes and discussions, it does not encompass the full depth and diversity of perspectives shared during the forum.
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Reference
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311251327228
Journal
ECNU Review of Education
Method of Research
Commentary/editorial
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Education: Insights From Global Deans
In an era where empathy feels unfamiliar, AI now translates emotions
Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH)
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The operation process of the AI agent EmoSync, which generates personalized analogy to elicit target emotions based on users' personal information.
view moreCredit: POSTECH
A research team at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology, South Korea) has developed AI technology that helps individuals deeply understand others' emotions by analyzing individual personality traits and values and generating personalized analogy. This study was recognized with the "Popular Choice Honorable Mention Award," given to the top 5% of 74 Interactivity track demonstrations at ACM CHI 2025, the world's leading international conference in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
Society is a complex community where people with different identities and diverse backgrounds live together. While people strive to understand each other, even the concept of "empathy" can sometimes feel overwhelming - because even in the same situation, emotions can differ greatly from person to person. Until now, computer-based empathy technologies have been operating on the assumption that showing the same experience would evoke similar emotions. However, reality is more complicated: emotional reactions vary widely depending on an individual's personality, past experiences, and values.
"EmoSync", an LLM-based agent, embraces and utilizes these individual differences. By meticulously analyzing each user's psychological traits and emotional response patterns, the LLM generates personalized analogical scenarios that allow people to understand others' feelings through the lens of their own experiences.
For example, if a user struggles to empathize with subtle discrimination or exclusion in the workplace, EmoSync analyzes the user's past experiences and creates a relatable connection, such as ‘a moment of feeling excluded by peers during school days.’ This approach helps users understand others' emotions more vividly and realistically by using the lens of familiar experiences.
The research team conducted experiments involving over 100 participants from diverse backgrounds using this technology. The results showed that participants who used EmoSync demonstrated significantly improved emotional understanding and empathy compared to traditional methods. This scientifically demonstrates that personalized metaphorical experiences can genuinely enhance empathy.
Hyojin Ju, the first author of the study, said, "Our research demonstrates that AI can be used to facilitate genuine understanding and empathy among people," and added, "We will continue to develop AI technologies that help foster true understanding and empathy in real-life situations."
Professor Inseok Hwang of POSTECH commented, "This study is a successful example showing that generative AI can identify each user's unique emotional structure and generate personalized experiences that induce specific emotions. It represents a novel and meaningful approach-both academically and socially-to fostering empathy in ways that were not possible before."
This research was conducted by Professor Inseok Hwang and Ph.D. students Hyojin Ju, Jungeun Lee, and Seungwon Yang from POSTECH's Department of Computer Science and Engineering, in collaboration with Professor Jungseul Ok. The project was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Mid-career Researcher Program, the Future Convergence Technology Pioneer Project funded by the Korean government (MSIT), and the University ICT Research Center Project from the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP), also funded by the Korean government (MSIT).
Article Title
Toward Affective Empathy via Personalized Analogy Generation: A Case Study on Microaggression
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