The 11th edition of the WISE summit opened yesterday bringing together over 2,000 education industry stakeholders, experts in various domains, academics, and innovators to exchange ideas and share expertise. In a globalized and connected world, addressing complex challenges requires collaboration and shared wisdom. The summit provides a platform to come together and develop collaborative strategies for tackling global issues.
Aptly summarising the importance of the WISE Summit in the current scenario, H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation (QF), said “I want to ensure WISE is a platform for new ideas that keep pace with the changes taking place in the world, and the obstacles that education faces in certain countries for reasons of which we are all too aware. There is no alternative but to innovate if we are to find solutions to intractable problems.”
Just like Her Highness said, the only solution to tackle the obstacles – manmade or otherwise – is to embrace the latest technological innovations and make them work for the betterment of society. This will require a combined effort from governments, institutions, and individuals to find the right solutions using effective tools, be traditional or non-conventional. This year’s Summit explores the theme of “Creative Fluency: Human Flourishing in the Age of AI.” It becomes imperative that in the present world, where more and more children are left behind and access to education becomes a privilege due to the various wars and political escalations, to innovate and use technologies like Artificial Intelligence to find solutions.
One such example is the winner of this edition’s prestigious WISE Prize for Education Safeena Husain, Founder and Board Member of Educate Girls. Thanks to a precision targeting method using AI, Husain and her organisation are able to target, in 5 years, the same number of out-of-school girls, which would otherwise require 45 years. AI has tremendous potential, and it could change the way we consume knowledge, but it is very important that such powerful technologies are harnessed in an ethical and righteous way as misuse of AI will have a catastrophic effect.
A series of thought-provoking panel discussions and policy roundtables explored topics such as strategies for educators to future-proof classrooms in the era of AI and navigating the impact of AI superpowers to build an inclusive global AI landscape, among others.
Education is a fundamental tool for nurturing wisdom and addressing societal challenges. As a summit dedicated to exploring innovative educational approaches WISE Summit will contribute to the collective wisdom needed to navigate an increasingly complex and interconnected world.
