Yogyakarta, 10 September 2025–The development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is forcing the world to transform. Since the massive advancement of AI, disruption has emerged in various fields, including education. The Global Humanities Alliance (GHA) held an online seminar on using AI to support the learning process on Wednesday (3/9). The panel discussion, “Digital Transformations: AI and Teaching,” featured experts from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada.
Hafiz Noer, a researcher at the Center for Digital Society (CfDS), Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, said there were at least three main discussion points. First, there must be changes in the curriculum regarding AI. Essentially, AI is a tool that helps humans. Therefore, AI must be positioned as a tool whose implementation needs to be adjusted. The problem is that AI raises many issues related to the tendency for humans to be replaced in many fields. AI simplifies and speeds up the thinking process, but dependence on AI often results in work that is entirely the product of a generator system.
In addition to copyright issues, AI-generated works lack the uniqueness and innovation of the human thought process. Not many people understand the potential of AI, which is much broader than just searching and generating objects. Therefore, the understanding of AI needs to be deepened and adapted to each field so that AI can function effectively. “The curriculum needs to be changed. It is not about teaching AI, but integrating the logic of how AI works into each study program,” he said. That way, AI can be used more optimally to assist human work processes in specific fields of expertise.
Hafiz continued that the diffusion of AI in the education system is still focused on the teaching process for students. It should be emphasized that before reaching students, teachers need competent AI training. For example, in higher education teaching systems, many cases of AI use in assignments exist. This is unavoidable, but to create a functional AI-based learning system, lecturers must understand AI systems.
Furthermore, during the meeting, Hafiz also discussed applicable ethical aspects. Although the discourse on ethics and AI still raises many questions, according to Hafiz, ethics is not punitive in nature. This means that ethics is not only taught through punishment or sanctions. There needs to be a deep understanding of the urgency of ethics and how it is implemented. With a sense of AI and ethical reflection, students are expected to be able to use AI more wisely to aid the learning process. “It’s not just about rules. What also needs to be regulated are the people or the students. Ethics is not punitive, but rather taught and trained to students,” said Hafiz.
Gabriela Arriagada, Professor of Applied Ethics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, also supports this opinion. The ethical boundaries in using AI should continue to be discussed and debated. Ethics is not black and white but grows from the values and culture embraced by society. For this reason, knowledge formation is necessary as a foundation for fostering ethics. She also discussed that this issue is closely related to various dimensions, such as feminism, marginalized groups, and sustainability.
Also present at this meeting were Jennie Blake from the University of Manchester, Ke Hu from the University of Melbourne, and several experts and students from around the world. The discussion is expected to contribute to the development of AI in society and help policymakers respond to technological advances. Furthermore, the involvement of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, UGM, in the Global Humanities Alliance discussion strengthens the faculty’s contribution to the issue and strengthens international academic cooperation.