The importance of international academic collaborations and the role of Artificial Intelligence in shaping the future of education was highlighted by the Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, Sophia Zacharaki, during her address at the international conference “Artificial Intelligence – Consequences and Limits”, organized by the University of Piraeus in collaboration with Purdue University.
She made special reference to the new joint international postgraduate programme “Global Applied Artificial Intelligence”, which is being implemented by the University of Piraeus and Purdue University, describing it as a “characteristic example of the new international, research and innovative orientation of Greek higher education”.
As he stressed, the programme highlights the potential of Greek public universities to develop strategic partnerships with leading institutions abroad, creating new opportunities for education, research and innovation in cutting-edge fields such as Artificial Intelligence.
It is worth noting that this Master’s degree is funded through the Recovery and Resilience Fund with more than €4 million and is part of the broader programme for the internationalisation of higher education, which is expected to invest a total of €70 million for joint and double degree programmes and international research collaborations.
In her speech, the minister also referred to the government’s overall strategy for the use of AI in education, noting that the country is following a coherent digital transformation plan from 2019, combining modern infrastructure, educational content, teacher training and equal opportunities for access to knowledge.
Among other things, he mentioned the training programmes for teachers in digital technologies and AI applications, the pilot programme for the use of ChatGPT Edu in 20 public high schools, the addition of the digital assistant, eduAI, to the Digital Tutorial, and AI, which will be integrated into the computer science course and for which a study is already being carried out for the development of content.
“AI must serve learning, democracy and people,” the Minister stressed, emphasising that technological progress only acquires real value when it contributes to knowledge, inclusion, social progress and human dignity.
