On 11 November in the ‘Sala Constitucional’ of the Congress of Deputies, the four reports that the Office of Science and Technology of the Congress of Deputies (Office C), has prepared this year on four scientific topics of interest for current politics, were presented :
- Artificial intelligence and education,
- Active suicide prevention,
- Critical materials and raw materials in the energy transition, and
- Sustainable coastal zone management.
All of them were followed by a round table in which some of the experts consulted for the reports participated as speakers. The event was attended by MPs, experts, journalists, staff from Office C, FECYT and Congress. The speakers used all the skills acquired in their work to offer an enlightening and entertaining debate on each of the topics.
The experience did not end there
The next day, dialogue sessions were held on each of the reports. The ‘Artificial Intelligence and Education’ session was attended by:
- 6 MEPs,
- 5 collaborating experts
- and the coordinators of the report.
In this working session, deputies and experts, in close dialogue, made proposals, resolved doubts and raised some concerns about AI and education.
As a finale, the girls from office C had prepared a surprise for which they counted on me: a short workshop to show the MEPs the constructionist proposal that we have been working on for several years in LearningML. The workshop served to illustrate a part of the report that dealt with AI literacy. The experience, in such an institutional context as the Congress of Deputies, was fun and unexpected and gave a certain freshness to the event that, judging by the faces and comments of the participants, was very well received!
I would like to thank Sofía Otero, technician of scientific and technological evidence and leader of the report, for her interest in LearningML. I would like to highlight her high capacities to lead, coordinate and distil information. And, especially, the fearlessness she has shown in proposing this workshop with a playful-pedagogical approach in which participants, in order to build an AI model.
And, thanks to Socialist MP Caridad Rives Arcayna for offering to show us around the Chamber and the surrounding rooms of the main Congress building.
It was an unexpected and exciting ‘party finale’!
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)