{"id":13522,"date":"2026-02-02T10:07:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T10:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=13522"},"modified":"2026-01-29T10:09:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T10:09:16","slug":"responsible-uses-of-ai-in-education-reflections-on-a-thought-provoking-webinar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2026\/02\/responsible-uses-of-ai-in-education-reflections-on-a-thought-provoking-webinar\/","title":{"rendered":"Responsible uses of AI in education: Reflections on a thought-provoking webinar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Introducing the SIG<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Digital Sustainability SIG held a <a href=\"https:\/\/lnkd.in\/eggZ7Cf5\">webinar with informative speaker Rita Bateson at the end of last year<\/a>. This was the first event for the Digital Sustainability SIG, therefore the group was introduced by its chair people Kathleen Calder and Paul Astles. The mission statement was shared to frame the group and its intentions. The chairs also put a call out for any future webinar topics from the attendees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Wake-Up Call: Trouble in Dublin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rita Bateson opened the webinar with shocking insights into the trouble with power outages in Dublin. Dublin is now home to a vast concentration of data centres, many of which power AI technologies. The demand for energy has become so intense that parts of the city are experiencing blackouts. In some cases, power has reportedly been diverted from critical infrastructure, including hospitals, to keep data centres running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Not Anti\u2011AI \u2014 But Conscious Use<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Importantly, the message was not \u201canti\u2011AI.\u201d Rita was clear and balanced in her approach. When AI saves time, enhances learning, or significantly improves the student experience, it can absolutely be a worthwhile use of energy. This is especially true in areas such as inclusive education, where special education teachers are excited about AI\u2019s potential to personalise learning and better support diverse needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The challenge, then, is not whether we should use AI \u2014 but <em>how<\/em> and <em>why<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A Deliberate Approach to AI Use<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rita introduced the idea of <em>conscious use<\/em>, encouraging participants to pause before using AI tools and ask themselves a set of reflective questions. Using a \u201cdeliberation tool,\u201d the tool includes questions such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Is this use of AI genuinely adding value?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Could the task be done just as well without it?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Will I still feel proud of this work knowing how it was created?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If the answers lean strongly towards \u201cyes,\u201d then AI may well be the right choice. If not, it might be worth reconsidering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AI as the New Plastic?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the most thought-provoking metaphors of the session compared AI to plastic. Plastic is incredibly useful, even lifesaving in some contexts \u2014 but shouldn\u2019t be overused or used carelessly. Similarly, AI can be invaluable when applied to critical areas such as medical research (for example, breast cancer research), but problematic when used excessively or unnecessarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This framing challenged us to think not just about innovation, but about reduction, reuse, and responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Hidden Cost of Images and Video<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another key takeaway was the energy cost of different types of AI use. Video and image generation consume significantly more energy than text-based AI interactions. This insight prompted reflection on frequent use of AI for video and images that may seem harmless but carry a larger environmental footprint than expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Offsetting Our AI Footprint<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rita also touched on the idea of offsetting AI usage \u2014 for example, through tree planting initiatives or by actively tracking personal or organisational AI consumption. While offsetting is not a complete solution, it can be a meaningful step towards greater awareness and accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A Final Reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the closing discussion, a question was raised about how this message is typically received, especially by those who may be resistant to changing their behaviour. Rita\u2019s response was refreshingly honest: if people are unwilling to listen, then they are unlikely to be reached anyway. Change, she suggested, starts with those who are open to reflection \u2014 and that is where the real impact can begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Resources shared at the webinar&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/05\/think-before-you-prompt-reduce-your-ai-carbon-footprint-with-rocks\/\">Think before you prompt: Reduce your AI carbon footprint with ROCKS<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/learning-design\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/RBD-Version-for-blog.pdf\">Responsible by Design<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s44168-025-00252-3\">Green and intelligent: the role of AI in the climate transition<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/responsible-uses-genai-rita-bateson-digital-sustainability-sig--l0xoe\/?trackingId=wF5DTuLmqusIIwx%2Bs7gzcw%3D%3D\">Deliberation station<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Introducing the SIG The Digital Sustainability SIG held a webinar with informative speaker Rita Bateson at the end of last year. This was the first event for the Digital Sustainability SIG, therefore the group was introduced by its chair people Kathleen Calder and Paul Astles. The mission statement was shared to frame the group and [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1796,1946],"tags":[1258,1666,1667,2320,2107,2321],"class_list":["post-13522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artificial-intelligence-ai","category-digital-sustainability-sig","tag-altc-2","tag-ai","tag-artificial-inteligence","tag-digital-sus","tag-digital-sustainability","tag-rita-bateson"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/11\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-22.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13442,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/11\/how-do-we-become-a-digitally-sustainable-sig-here-is-a-call-to-action-please-contribute\/","url_meta":{"origin":13522,"position":0},"title":"How do we become a digitally sustainable SIG? Here is a Call to Action &#8211; please contribute","author":"ALT","date":"14 November 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Kathleen Calder, Paul Astles, Maeve Malone, Louise Walters, Catriona Matthews, Joanna Brown, Geraldine Foley, Edzia Carvalho, Irina Niculescu Meet the SIG The Association for Learning Technology's, Digital Sustainability SIG is an innovative new practice sharing group which is in the initial stages of planning for the sharing of initiatives, guidance,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Call&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Call","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/call\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/11\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-22.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/11\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-22.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/11\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-22.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/11\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-22.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12849,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/02\/digital-education-sig-call-for-speakers-creating-digital-assessments-planning-conceptualising-and-supporting\/","url_meta":{"origin":13522,"position":1},"title":"Digital Assessment SIG Call for Speakers &#8211; Creating Digital Assessments: planning, conceptualising and supporting","author":"ALT","date":"13 February 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Digital Assessment SIG is calling for speakers for its next webinar titled \u201cCreating Digital Assessments: planning, conceptualising and supporting\u201d, which will be held online on 25 March 2025 from 10:00 AM until 11:30 AM GMT.\u00a0 We are particularly looking for speakers who are able share: Examples of how they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Digital Assessment SIG&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Digital Assessment SIG","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/digital-assessment-sig\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"decorative image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/02\/Copy-of-Blog-Cover-700-%C3%97-216px.png?fit=700%2C216&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/02\/Copy-of-Blog-Cover-700-%C3%97-216px.png?fit=700%2C216&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/02\/Copy-of-Blog-Cover-700-%C3%97-216px.png?fit=700%2C216&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/02\/Copy-of-Blog-Cover-700-%C3%97-216px.png?fit=700%2C216&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13072,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/04\/introducing-kathleen-calder-and-paul-astles-the-co-chairs-of-the-new-digital-sustainability-sig\/","url_meta":{"origin":13522,"position":2},"title":"Introducing Kathleen Calder and Paul Astles: The Co-Chairs of the New Digital Sustainability SIG","author":"ALT","date":"11 April 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"About the Digital Sustainability SIG The Digital Sustainability SIG is an open and inclusive network fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing among educational institutions committed to taking meaningful sustainability focused action. We aim to empower colleagues by providing a space for cross-institutional conversations, learning, and collaborations. Our focus encompasses sustainable digital\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Digital Sustainability SIG&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Digital Sustainability SIG","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/digital-sustainability-sig\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/04\/Blog-cover-image-template-9.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/04\/Blog-cover-image-template-9.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/04\/Blog-cover-image-template-9.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/04\/Blog-cover-image-template-9.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13381,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/10\/training-staff-to-use-digital-assessment-tools\/","url_meta":{"origin":13522,"position":3},"title":"\u201cTraining Staff to Use Digital Assessment Tools\u201d","author":"ALT","date":"15 October 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello and welcome to a new academic year! To kick things off, the Digital Assessment SIG is inviting proposals for speakers at our first webinar of the year. The theme will be \u201cTraining Staff to Use Digital Assessment Tools\u201d, which aligns with one of our key areas of focus: Digital\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Digital Assessment SIG&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Digital Assessment SIG","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/digital-assessment-sig\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/10\/image1.png?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13233,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/08\/digital-assessment-sig-reflections-from-our-officers\/","url_meta":{"origin":13522,"position":4},"title":"Digital Assessment SIG: Reflections from our Officers","author":"ALT","date":"15 August 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Academic year 2024\/2025 Our last blog shared the experiences of our Co-Chairs over the last year of the Digital Assessment SIG. In this blog our team of officers share their experiences of being involved in the digital assessment special interest group and their hopes for the coming year. 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We now have 128 subscribers to the Jisc mail and have delivered 3 successful webinars with 10 presentations by 13 excellent speakers. For those of you interested in YouTube statistics our most watched\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Assessment&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Assessment","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/assessment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/05\/assessm.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/05\/assessm.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/05\/assessm.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/05\/assessm.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6CxU9-3w6","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13522"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13523,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13522\/revisions\/13523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}