The EU is making a massive push on AI, investing in infrastructure, education, and regulation. Read about what the plan means for schools, social services, the labor market, and the climate - from AI gigafactories to Trump's coal plans.
In this week’s newsletter, we focus on the EU’s ambitious AI Continent Action Plan, which has just been launched. The plan involves massive investments of 200 billion euros and aims to make Europe the world’s leading AI continent. We dive into the most important initiatives in education that could have a major impact on how we work with AI in future, from integration in the Danish primary and lower secondary school (folkeskole) to the establishment of advanced gigafactories.
In Gymnasieskolen, they have spoken with the American researcher Leigh Ann DeLyser, who underlines the importance of teachers using AI as a deliberate and critical tool, and not being led by the technology.
Another article in the magazine points out that AI is not the full solution to the digitalisation of teaching. What matters is that teachers and schools learn to integrate the technology thoughtfully, without losing sight of pedagogy.
We also link to two other interesting articles on AI’s role in education and welfare:
Three other news items highlight AI’s implications for the future labour market and the environment:
In addition, we bring this week’s other news.
On Friday, we published an article on Viden.AI that shows how to develop AI learning objects with the new Firebase Studio. You can read the article below, and you can also try the small tool we have developed here.
Per Størup Lauridsen
Happy reading!
The European Commission has presented the AI Continent Action Plan, an action plan aiming to make Europe the world’s leading AI continent. The plan combines investments in AI infrastructure, upskilling, education and regulation. With a budget of 200 billion euros, the strategy will promote technological sovereignty, create a stronger digital single market and ensure that Europe does not fall behind in the global AI race.
The plan includes, among other things, establishing five AI gigafactories with up to 100,000 advanced AI chips each, a tripling of the EU’s data centre capacity, and the development of new sustainable cloud solutions.
In addition, an AI Skills Academy will be created to bring together education, continuing professional development and talent programmes, including AI scholarships, internships and dedicated initiatives for women in tech.
The EU will also integrate AI literacy in primary and lower secondary education and in upper secondary education through strategies such as AI in Education, DigComp and the STEM Education Strategic Plan.
In research, the initiative RAISE will be launched to strengthen AI as a research tool in areas including health and energy. Digital Innovation Hubs will also take on a greater role in supporting teachers, students and businesses with access to supercomputers and test environments.
With the new AI Act Service Desk, companies will also have a single point of entry for help to understand and comply with AI regulation.
At a conference on AI in the upper secondary school (gymnasium), the American researcher and technology expert Leigh Ann DeLyser emphasised that AI in teaching should be a tool under the teacher’s control – not a driving force. For her, working with digitalisation is not only about technical skills, but about equipping students to understand and influence the world – including the forces that polarise our society.
She pointed out that teachers are already experts in their subjects and can therefore use AI meaningfully – even without a technology background. It is not about becoming an AI expert, but about applying the technology from a position of disciplinary strength. AI should function as a tool to enhance learning, not replace the teacher’s role or professional judgement.
Read the full interview in Gymnasieskolen
Text_ Johan Rasmussen Photo_ Johan Rasmussen
In an article in Gymnasieskolen (the Danish upper secondary teachers’ magazine), associate professor and AI expert Ulf Dalvad Berthelsen argues that teachers should not overhaul all their teaching solely because of AI. He believes AI is currently receiving disproportionate attention, which may lead to ill‑judged investments in the school system – as with previous waves of enthusiasm for, for example, iPads. AI is just one of many digital technologies, and the challenge is rather to equip teachers more broadly to integrate technology into teaching in a didactically meaningful way. PhD and associate professor Kristine Bundgaard points out that AI is markedly changing students’ learning habits. Many, for example, use chatbots to get explanations, summarise disciplinary texts and rewrite academic literature into more accessible language. This entails both pedagogical opportunities and challenges. In particular, she warns that subject immersion and the learning that comes from writing and processing knowledge oneself risk being lost. It is therefore important that teachers help students use AI as a supporting tool – not as a shortcut without reflection.
Text_ Johan Rasmussen Illustration_ Marie Boye Thomsen
The use of AI in the welfare sector evokes both hope and concern. According to researcher Ida Schrøder and head of department Helle Johansen from Københavns Professionshøjskole (University College Copenhagen), AI should be used as a supplement to – and never a replacement for – social workers’ professional judgement. AI can streamline tasks such as anonymisation, calendar management and administration, but it is crucial that social workers retain control and professional judgement in casework. The technology should support the work so that professionals have more time for contact with citizens.
The social worker degree programmes are working purposefully to strengthen students’ technological understanding, source criticism and reflective skills. Here, AI can be used for differentiated instruction, flexible study formats and practice training – for example with robots that simulate conversations with children. Helle Johansen highlights that AI can be a particularly good tool for newly qualified or less experienced social workers, but stresses that the technology must never replace professional judgement.
Minister for Digitalisation Caroline Stage Olsen supports the use of AI in the welfare sector, especially to make administrative processes more efficient. However, she emphasises the need for high ethical standards and transparency – especially in encounters with citizens. It is about responsibility and about ensuring citizens’ trust in the public sector.
Socialrådgiveren 02/25
A new, practice‑oriented teaching resource from CFU (Centre for Teaching Materials) is intended to help English teachers use AI in their teaching – both as support for subject learning and as a springboard for building more trustful teacher–student relationships. The material has been developed by CFU consultants Christina Hellensberg and Danièle Eychenne and consists of eight student worksheets with accompanying teacher guides that are simple to use and easy to adapt to the level and context of each class.
Maja Plesner
Shopify has announced a new strategy in which the use of AI is to be the starting point for all tasks. Before teams in the company may hire new staff or receive increased budget, they must be able to document that the task cannot be solved by AI. The strategy marks a radical shift in the labour market, where humans are no longer the natural first choice – but rather an alternative if the technology does not suffice.
For employees and job applicants, this means new requirements. Employees must master AI tools to remain relevant, while hiring will henceforth only take place for functions where AI cannot deliver satisfactory solutions. This raises questions about which competencies will be in demand – and to what extent humans will be needed at all in the labour market of the future.
Shopify’s approach is a concrete example of how technology companies may choose to put AI at the centre. This brings a number of questions to the fore for the education sector: How do people remain relevant? Which roles can we educate for as AI keeps improving? And how do we teach for a labour market where technology is not merely a tool – but a potential competitor?
According to a new special report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), energy consumption in AI‑driven data centres will more than double towards 2030 and could reach 1,200 terawatt hours by 2035 – equivalent to Japan’s current electricity consumption. In the United States alone, AI data centres are expected to consume more electricity than the country’s entire heavy industry combined, including steel and cement production. AI is seen as the primary driver of this development.
At the same time, however, the report also points out that AI has the potential to deliver significant efficiencies in the energy sector. AI is already used in the oil and gas industry to optimise production and maintenance, and can be used to improve the integration of renewables, predict grid faults and reduce energy consumption in buildings. In one of the scenarios, AI alone could save energy equivalent to Mexico’s total consumption.
Fiona Harvey
To meet the rapidly growing energy demand, Donald Trump has signed a series of decrees aimed at promoting coal production in the United States. One of them is directed specifically at the AI industry and calls for the use of “beautiful, clean coal” as an energy source for power‑hungry data centres. At the same time, several ministries are ordered to identify locations where coal‑based infrastructure can support AI’s energy needs.
Tina Nguyen
Oliver Milman
Martin Bjoerck
Jess Weatherbed
Maximilian Schreiner
