Ethical Considerations of AI in Education: A Case Study Based on Pythia Learning Enhancement System

As the use of AI in education increases, addressing ethical concerns is essential for its responsible use and implementation. This study explores the ethical considerations of AI in education by analyzing a concrete application, the Pythia Learning Enhancement System, which enables personalized and...

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Main Authors: Simon Rohrl, Susanne Staufer, Flemming Bugert, Vamsi Krishna Nadimpalli, Florian Hauser, Lisa Grabinger, Dominik Bittner, Timur Ezer, Ricardo Altweck, Sabine Graf, Thomas Kriza, Jurgen Mottok
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11053800/
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author Simon Rohrl
Susanne Staufer
Flemming Bugert
Vamsi Krishna Nadimpalli
Florian Hauser
Lisa Grabinger
Dominik Bittner
Timur Ezer
Ricardo Altweck
Sabine Graf
Thomas Kriza
Jurgen Mottok
author_facet Simon Rohrl
Susanne Staufer
Flemming Bugert
Vamsi Krishna Nadimpalli
Florian Hauser
Lisa Grabinger
Dominik Bittner
Timur Ezer
Ricardo Altweck
Sabine Graf
Thomas Kriza
Jurgen Mottok
author_sort Simon Rohrl
collection DOAJ
description As the use of AI in education increases, addressing ethical concerns is essential for its responsible use and implementation. This study explores the ethical considerations of AI in education by analyzing a concrete application, the Pythia Learning Enhancement System, which enables personalized and adaptive educational experiences. In this case study, the concrete implementation of Pythia, contrary to high-level abstract analyses, provides practical insights into these ethical issues. To achieve this goal, we first define Pythia and outline its implementation. Using the various topics covered by Pythia, the ethical issues associated with each of these topics are outlined, resulting in a list of ten distinct ethical issues. Because there is overlap in issues covered by similar applications, they can benefit from this identification. An ethical (human rights) and didactic (constructivism) theoretical background is then provided as a basis for further discussion. This is used to build the arguments used in the main study. This consists of analyzing each of the issues and providing recommendations to mitigate potential harm arising from these issues. This helps to provide guidelines for future applications. In the analysis, the ethical discussion is mainly based on the human rights of the stakeholders involved, emphasizing human dignity. After the analysis, each of the issues is contextualized with the recent AI Act of the European Union, providing a novel mapping of the issues of AI in education to the AI Act. Finally, the limitations of the study are stated and a plan for future research is presented.
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spelling doaj-art-04c428e9316b4d19bebbc30d98ac93d62025-08-20T03:49:49ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-011311533111535310.1109/ACCESS.2025.358397511053800Ethical Considerations of AI in Education: A Case Study Based on Pythia Learning Enhancement SystemSimon Rohrl0https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0768-0485Susanne Staufer1https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4346-8678Flemming Bugert2https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0521-2241Vamsi Krishna Nadimpalli3https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5418-9712Florian Hauser4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2531-3295Lisa Grabinger5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1874-6268Dominik Bittner6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6583-6288Timur Ezer7https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1973-9997Ricardo Altweck8https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7601-0578Sabine Graf9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9898-4145Thomas Kriza10https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1659-0108Jurgen Mottok11https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7727-2448Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, OTH Regensburg, Regensburg, Bavaria, GermanyFaculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, OTH Regensburg, Regensburg, Bavaria, GermanyFaculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, OTH Regensburg, Regensburg, Bavaria, GermanyFaculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, OTH Regensburg, Regensburg, Bavaria, GermanyFaculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, OTH Regensburg, Regensburg, Bavaria, GermanyFaculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, OTH Regensburg, Regensburg, Bavaria, GermanySUSTAIN Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT), University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, U.K.Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, OTH Regensburg, Regensburg, Bavaria, GermanyFaculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, OTH Regensburg, Regensburg, Bavaria, GermanyFaculty of Science and Technology, Athabasca University, Athabasca, CanadaFaculty of Applied Natural Sciences and Cultural Studies, OTH Regensburg, Regensburg, Bavaria, GermanyFaculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, OTH Regensburg, Regensburg, Bavaria, GermanyAs the use of AI in education increases, addressing ethical concerns is essential for its responsible use and implementation. This study explores the ethical considerations of AI in education by analyzing a concrete application, the Pythia Learning Enhancement System, which enables personalized and adaptive educational experiences. In this case study, the concrete implementation of Pythia, contrary to high-level abstract analyses, provides practical insights into these ethical issues. To achieve this goal, we first define Pythia and outline its implementation. Using the various topics covered by Pythia, the ethical issues associated with each of these topics are outlined, resulting in a list of ten distinct ethical issues. Because there is overlap in issues covered by similar applications, they can benefit from this identification. An ethical (human rights) and didactic (constructivism) theoretical background is then provided as a basis for further discussion. This is used to build the arguments used in the main study. This consists of analyzing each of the issues and providing recommendations to mitigate potential harm arising from these issues. This helps to provide guidelines for future applications. In the analysis, the ethical discussion is mainly based on the human rights of the stakeholders involved, emphasizing human dignity. After the analysis, each of the issues is contextualized with the recent AI Act of the European Union, providing a novel mapping of the issues of AI in education to the AI Act. Finally, the limitations of the study are stated and a plan for future research is presented.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11053800/EthicsAI in educationethical guidelineshuman rightsAI act
spellingShingle Simon Rohrl
Susanne Staufer
Flemming Bugert
Vamsi Krishna Nadimpalli
Florian Hauser
Lisa Grabinger
Dominik Bittner
Timur Ezer
Ricardo Altweck
Sabine Graf
Thomas Kriza
Jurgen Mottok
Ethical Considerations of AI in Education: A Case Study Based on Pythia Learning Enhancement System
IEEE Access
Ethics
AI in education
ethical guidelines
human rights
AI act
title Ethical Considerations of AI in Education: A Case Study Based on Pythia Learning Enhancement System
title_full Ethical Considerations of AI in Education: A Case Study Based on Pythia Learning Enhancement System
title_fullStr Ethical Considerations of AI in Education: A Case Study Based on Pythia Learning Enhancement System
title_full_unstemmed Ethical Considerations of AI in Education: A Case Study Based on Pythia Learning Enhancement System
title_short Ethical Considerations of AI in Education: A Case Study Based on Pythia Learning Enhancement System
title_sort ethical considerations of ai in education a case study based on pythia learning enhancement system
topic Ethics
AI in education
ethical guidelines
human rights
AI act
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11053800/
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