Beyond Cheating:  AI as a Catalyst for Educational Transformation

Luca Longo, Computer scientist specializing in Explainable artificial intelligence, University College Cork; Trinity College Dublin

Artificial Intelligence began as an ambitious idea in 1955 when John McCarthy and his colleagues suggested that machines could one day learn, reason, plan, perceive, and use language. What once seemed theoretical is now part of everyday educational practice. AI appears in intelligent tutoring systems, learning analytics dashboards, automated grading tools, virtual assistants, machine learning applications, and data visualisations. Still, despite this rapid integration, much of the discussion in education has focused on one main concern: cheating.

This keynote encourages us to look beyond that narrative. The real issue may not be academic misconduct but what AI reveals about our long-standing beliefs around teaching and assessment. What were we actually measuring in the first place?

By revisiting foundational learning theories, including Behaviourism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, and Connectivism, we can better understand our current moment. If behaviourist approaches reward stimulus-response performance, it’s not surprising that AI systems perform well on such tasks. If cognitivism frames learners as information processors, AI challenges us to rethink what it means to process, generate, and demonstrate knowledge. From a constructivist angle, AI can act as a scaffold or cognitive partner, shaping how learners build meaning. Through a connectivist perspective, AI becomes part of the larger network through which knowledge is accessed, negotiated, and shared. 

Instead of viewing AI as an adversary, this talk suggests we see it as a catalyst for reflection and change. Its presence encourages us to shift from grading final products to making learning processes more visible. It prompts a move away from standardised evaluation toward personalisation and from compliance-driven tasks to fostering curiosity, creativity, and self-exploration.

AI in education is not just a technological advancement; it represents a pedagogical turning point. The question is no longer how to stop students from using intelligent tools but how to create learning environments where those tools enhance thinking rather than replace it. By grounding AI integration in solid learning theory, educators can go beyond reactive policies and toward intentional redesign, using intelligent systems to support agency, nurture passion, and transform assessment into a meaningful measure of growth, judgment, and understanding.

Speaker profile

Luca Longo is an Italian polymath and computer scientist specialising in Explainable artificial intelligence, Deep Learning, and Argumentation theory, with research in human performance modelling. As the founder and general chair of the World Conference on Explainable Artificial Intelligence, he conducts fundamental research on computational models of Cognitive Load and serves as an editor of books and journals with Springer Publishing and Frontiers Media. He is a public speaker who disseminates technical knowledge to the wider public and contributes to the non-profit organisation TED (conference), “Ideas Worth Spreading”.

Luca is the recipient of the 2023 “AI Person of the Year” award, organised by AI Ireland, a non-profit organisation focused on promoting Artificial intelligence in Ireland. He is also the 2016 and 2021 winner of the Teaching Hero Award in Ireland by the National Forum for Teaching and Learning, inspiring students by creating motivating and stimulating learning environments that support the acquisition of skills and the formation of knowledge applicable in practical contexts through the mastery of the Community of inquiry in Higher education. Longo is also an educator, striving to empower Education through technology and Artificial Intelligence. These distinctions have led to his receiving the “Italiani nel mondo” award from Associazioni Sportive Sociali Italiane in 2024.

Longo is a professor at the University College Cork in Ireland and the founder of the first Centre of Explainable Artificial Intelligence in Ireland. He is currently leading the Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Load research labs at University College Cork, which aims to expand the boundaries of Artificial Intelligence and bridge the gap between machines and humans. His approach to doctoral supervision has led to a nomination for the ‘Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year’ award (2021), widely recognised as the ‘Oscars of higher education’ and organised by Times Higher Education, one of the leading magazines in higher education.

Longo is originally from Varese, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Computer Science from the University of Insubria. He continued with a master’s in Health Informatics, a master’s in Statistics, and a doctorate in Artificial Intelligence at Trinity College Dublin. He later joined Technological University Dublin, where he obtained two master’s degrees in Pedagogy: one in Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and one in Applied E-learning. As a lifelong learner, he received a second doctorate in neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin.

Deadline per le iscrizioni all’evento: 10 aprile 2026