Estonia has launched a new initiative aimed at preparing students and teachers for the age of AI. The ‘AI Leap’ programme will provide access to popular AI chatbots, including an educational version of ChatGPT, to help build digital skills. Starting in September 2025, the programme will involve 20,000 high school students and 3,000 teachers, with plans to expand to vocational schools and an additional 38,000 students and 3,000 teachers in 2026.
Education Minister Kristina Kallas emphasised that Estonia’s economic competitiveness depends on how well the country adapts to AI, ensuring young people are equipped for the future. As part of the initiative, Estonia will also invest in teacher training to support the integration of AI in classrooms.
The programme is a public-private partnership, with negotiations underway with major AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic. OpenAI has expressed its pride in collaborating with Estonia to bring ChatGPT Edu to the education system, aiming to better prepare students for the workforce. Estonia’s use of AI in education is seen as a model that other countries may follow as the EU pushes to increase digital skills across Europe by 2030.
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British universities have been urged to reassess their assessment methods after new research revealed a significant rise in students using genAI for their projects. A survey of 1,000 undergraduates found that 88% of students used AI tools like ChatGPT for assessments in 2025, up from 53% last year. Overall, 92% of students now use some form of AI, marking a substantial shift in academic behaviours in just a year.
The report, by the Higher Education Policy Institute and Kortext, highlights how AI is being used for tasks such as summarising articles, explaining concepts, and suggesting research ideas. While AI can enhance the quality of work and save time, some students admitted to directly including AI-generated content in their assignments, raising concerns about academic misconduct.
The research also found that concerns over AI’s potential impact on academic integrity vary across demographics. Women, wealthier students, and those studying STEM subjects were more likely to embrace AI, while others expressed fears about getting caught or receiving biased results. Despite these concerns, students generally feel that universities are addressing the issue of academic integrity, with many believing their institutions have clear policies on AI use.
Experts argue that universities need to adapt quickly to the changing landscape, with some suggesting that AI should be integrated into teaching rather than being seen solely as a threat to academic integrity. As AI tools become an essential part of education, institutions must find a balance between leveraging the technology and maintaining academic standards.
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Recent weeks have seen a surge in AI-generated videos that transport viewers to historical eras, from the medieval streets during the Black Death to the dramatic eruption of Vesuvius. Creators Dan from the UK and Hogne from Norway, behind the accounts POV Lab and Time Traveller POV, have produced these first-person narratives to bring history to life in a unique and engaging manner.
While the videos have attracted millions of views and sparked widespread fascination, several historians have raised concerns over their historical accuracy. Experts such as Dr Amy Boyington and Dr Hannah Platts point out numerous inaccuracies, including anachronistic details like modern bread rolls and train tracks in medieval scenes, that risk misrepresenting historical facts. They caution that such artistic interpretations, though visually striking, could mislead young viewers and distort their understanding of history.
The creators defend their work as a means to spark curiosity and encourage further research, openly acknowledging that their videos are not intended to be strict documentaries. They label their content as AI-created and urge audiences to verify historical details independently. Despite the debate, these innovative videos are opening up new ways for the public to engage with the past, even as calls for greater accuracy and transparency grow louder.
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Chinese universities have launched AI courses based on DeepSeek, a breakthrough AI startup from Hangzhou, which has gained significant attention for its advanced models, DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1. These courses are part of a broader effort by Chinese authorities to boost scientific and technological innovation in higher education, aiming to create new growth sources for the economy.
Shenzhen University has introduced an AI course focused on DeepSeek, addressing key technologies as well as ethical and security issues. Similarly, Zhejiang University began offering DeepSeek-based courses in February, while Shanghai’s Jiao Tong University has incorporated DeepSeek to enhance its AI learning tools. Renmin University is applying the technology across various academic and research fields.
This educational push aligns with China’s new national plan to build a “strong education nation” by 2035, aiming to establish a world-class, accessible education system. Liang Wenfeng, founder of DeepSeek, recently attended a high-level meeting with President Xi Jinping and other tech industry leaders, further highlighting the significance of the startup’s contributions.
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Greece‘s Ministry of Education is developing an AI-powered digital assistant aimed at helping students bridge learning gaps. Set to launch in the 2025-2026 school year, the tool will analyse student responses to exercises, identifying areas where they struggle and recommending targeted study materials. Initially focused on middle and senior high school students, it may eventually expand to lower elementary grades as well.
The AI assistant uses machine-learning algorithms to assess students’ strengths and weaknesses, tailoring study plans accordingly. Integrated with Greece’s Digital Tutoring platform, it will leverage over 15,000 interactive exercises and 7,500 educational videos. Teachers will also have access to the data, allowing them to better support their students.
Education Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis highlighted that the project, part of the “Enhancing the Digital School” initiative, is designed to complement, not replace, traditional teaching methods. The initiative, which aims to modernise Greece’s education system, will be funded through the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility. Approval is expected in March, after which competitive bidding will begin for the project’s implementation.
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Meta has launched a new initiative with UNESCO to enhance AI language recognition and translation, focusing on underserved languages. The Language Technology Partner Program invites collaborators to provide speech recordings, transcriptions, and translated texts to help train AI models. The finalised models will be open-sourced, allowing broader accessibility and research.
The government of Nunavut in Canada is among the early partners, contributing recordings in Inuktut, a language spoken by some Indigenous communities. Meta is also releasing an open-source machine translation benchmark to evaluate AI performance across seven languages, available on Hugging Face.
While Meta presents the initiative as a philanthropic effort, improved AI language tools could benefit the company’s broader goals. Meta AI continues to expand multilingual support, including automatic translation for content creators. However, the company has faced criticism for its handling of non-English content, with reports highlighting inconsistencies in content moderation across languages.
Greece is taking steps to address the impact of AI on the labour market by strengthening its Labour Market Needs Assessment Mechanism and implementing retraining programs. Speaking at a conference in Brussels, Labour Minister Niki Kerameus highlighted the rapid pace of AI development and its transformative effects on the workforce. She emphasised the need for protective measures to ensure workers benefit fully from AI’s potential.
Kerameus outlined two key initiatives Greece is focusing on. The first involves mapping current and future labour market needs, especially for new skills and specialities driven by AI. The Ministry of Labour is enhancing its market needs with a diagnostic mechanism to track real-time employee skills and labour market demands.
The second initiative involves retraining programs to help workers adapt to the evolving job landscape. Kerameus reassured that while AI will continue to change how people work, it should not be feared. Greece is prioritising skills programs, particularly in digital and green sectors, and aims to involve 10% of the active workforce in these initiatives by 2026.
OpenAI is set to introduce an education-focused version of its chatbot to around 500,000 students and faculty at California State University. The rollout, covering 23 campuses, aims to provide personalised tutoring for students and administrative support for faculty members. The initiative is part of OpenAI’s broader effort to integrate its technology into education despite initial concerns about cheating and plagiarism.
Universities such as the Wharton School, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Oxford have already adopted ChatGPT Enterprise. In response, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Edu in May last year to cater specifically to academic institutions. The education sector has become a growing focus for AI companies, with Alphabet investing $120 million into AI education programs and preparing to introduce its Gemini chatbot into school-issued Google accounts for teenage students.
Competition in AI-driven education is intensifying. In the UK, Prime Minister Keir Starmer inaugurated the first Google-funded AI university in London, providing teens with AI and machine learning resources. As AI adoption in schools increases, major tech companies are vying for a dominant role in shaping the future of digital learning.
Young people in Guernsey are being offered a free six-week course on AI to help them understand both the opportunities and challenges of the technology. Run by Digital Greenhouse in St Peter Port, the programme is open to students and graduates over the age of 16, regardless of their academic background. Experts from University College London (UCL) deliver the lessons remotely each week.
Jenny de la Mare from Digital Greenhouse said the course was designed to “inform and inspire” participants while helping them stand out in job and university applications. She emphasised that the programme was not limited to STEM students and could serve as a strong introduction to AI for anyone interested in the field.
Recognising that young people in Guernsey may have fewer opportunities to attend major tech events in the UK, organisers hope the course will give them a competitive edge. The programme has already started but is still open for registrations, with interested individuals encouraged to contact Digital Greenhouse.
AI-powered study rooms are revolutionising online education in China by offering personalised, tech-driven learning experiences. These spaces cater to students aged 8 to 18, using advanced software to provide interactive lessons and real-time feedback. The AI systems analyse mistakes, adjust course materials, and generate detailed progress reports for parents, who can track their child’s improvement remotely. By leveraging technology, these study rooms aim to make education more engaging and tailored to individual learning needs.
These AI rooms are marketed as self-study spaces rather than traditional tutoring centres, allowing them to navigate China’s strict private tutoring regulations by framing their services as facility rentals or membership plans. This creative positioning allows them to operate within a regulatory grey area, avoiding restrictions on off-campus tutoring for students in grades one through nine. Membership fees range from 1,000 to 3,000 yuan monthly, making them a more affordable long-term alternative to expensive one-on-one tutoring sessions.
Despite their growing popularity, education experts remain sceptical of their educational value. Critics argue that many of these systems lack proper AI functionality, relying instead on preloaded prompts and automated responses. Furthermore, there are concerns that their heavy emphasis on drilling questions to improve test scores may neglect critical thinking and deeper comprehension. However, proponents believe these AI-powered study rooms represent an essential step toward integrating technology into education and expanding access to personalised learning.
