Postdoctoral researchers Anna Coli and Raquel Augusta Melilo Carrieri, affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Transdisciplinary Studies (IEAT) at UFMG, recently participated in a seminar promoted by the Faculty of Education (FaE/UFMG) within the scope of the Education and Training in Rural Areas course, discussing the challenges and implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Basic Education.

The activity was part of the training program of the Bachelor’s Degree in Rural Education, offered by FaE/UFMG, which aims to train educators committed to the social, cultural, and territorial realities of rural areas, articulating pedagogical knowledge, local knowledge, and educational public policies. The course stands out for its critical, interdisciplinary, and socially referenced training proposal, focused on basic education in rural contexts.

At the seminar, the researchers addressed the growing presence of AI in everyday school life, problematizing its pedagogical uses, ethical limits, and impacts on teaching work and formative processes. The discussion emphasized the need for critical literacy in Artificial Intelligence, especially in basic education, so that teachers and students not only use digital technologies but also understand their assumptions, risks, and social implications.

Participation in FaE continues an agenda of debates already developed by the researchers at UFMG. Anna Coli and Raquel Augusta Melilo Carrieri were speakers at GIZ UFMG — University, Artificial Intelligence and Teaching-Learning Processes, an institutional event that discussed the impacts of AI on higher education and teacher training. Furthermore, both are authors of an opinion article published on the UFMG website, in which they critically reflect on the place of AI in basic education, warning against merely instrumental approaches and defending the importance of the “ability to hesitate” as a formative principle in the face of digital technologies.

About the researchers

Anna Coli is a postdoctoral researcher affiliated with IEAT/UFMG, with a background in Education. She conducts research on educational policies, digital technologies, and teacher training, with an emphasis on critical and interdisciplinary approaches that articulate basic education, technological innovation, and social justice.

Raquel Augusta Melilo Carrieri is a postdoctoral researcher at IEAT/UFMG, a basic education teacher, and a researcher in the area of ​​curriculum and teacher training. Her academic trajectory involves studies on teaching, educational technologies, pedagogical content knowledge, and the impacts of Artificial Intelligence on teaching-learning processes, especially in basic education.

The researchers’ work reinforces IEAT/UFMG’s commitment to the production of transdisciplinary knowledge and to qualified public debate on contemporary themes that intersect education, science, and technology.