Sustaining Humanity in an Artificial Intelligence World

As generative AI reshapes how we live and learn, educators face a critical question:

How do we sustain human intelligence and well-being
while building child-centered learning in a technology-driven world?

This is not a new struggle – humanity has long wrestled with the impact of powerful tools on culture and learning. From the shift away from oral storytelling in the classical world, to the steam-powered revolutions of the 19th century, to the Church’s resistance to television in 1950s Ireland, every era has forced us to reimagine what it means to stay human.

Today, artificial intelligence presents an even deeper challenge – and opportunity. Will schools become more mechanized or more human? Will AI displace connection, or help us deepen it?

This keynote invites educators to explore how we can use today’s technologies to support – not replace – the deeply human work of teaching and learning. Drawing from Irish cultural values of storytelling, community, and care, we will explore how to make schooling more learner-centered, more emotionally grounded and more focused on a shared future.

This is not a call to resist innovation. It is a call to lead it — intentionally, wisely and with humanity at the heart.