IHEM External Speaker Prof. Dr. Marthe Stevens: public ZOOM access

Embedded ethics in the sphere of education: The case of the Dutch National Education Lab AI (NOLAI)

The Dutch National Education Lab AI (NOLAI) is a ten-year initiative funded by the Dutch government that seeks to enhance primary and secondary education in the Netherlands through the development of AI technologies tailored specifically for the educational sector (NOLAI, 2023). Within this initiative, the ethics team plays a central role in identifying, anticipating, and addressing ethical issues related to AI development, while supporting stakeholders across the educational landscape.

The work of the ethics team is informed by embedded ethics approaches developed in other domains, particularly computer science education (Grosz et al., 2019; ) and healthcare (McLennan et al., 2022; Tigard et al., 2023). In this presentation, I will reflect on the applicability and translation of embedded ethics approaches to the field of education. I will also introduce the theoretical framework of sphere transgressions (Sharon, 2021a; 2021b; Stevens et al., 2024), which we use within NOLAI as a foundation for our normative analyses. This framework enables us to critically assess whether core educational values risk being displaced by (digital) values that accompany AI.

Prof. Dr. Marthe Stevens is Assistant Professor Digitalization and Society, Leader Ethics Team at NOLAI, Radboud University, the Netherlands, Visiting Scholar at IHEM in June and July 2025

It's not necessary to prepare for this presentation, but those who want a deeper dive can always read this editorial: Stevens, M., Kraaijeveld, S. R., & Sharon, T. (2024). Sphere transgressions: reflecting on the risks of Big Tech expansionism. Information, Communication & Society, 27(15), 2587-2599. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2353782

If you would like to attend online, please use the following Zoom dial-in info:

https://tum-conf.zoom.us/j/63062412184

Meeting ID: 630 6241 2184

Code: 536634