The government's policy platform promises a strategy for AI across the entire education sector. That's a genuine step forward. But the decisive question is what it will actually focus on.
Denmark has a new government, and the four-party coalition government’s platform contains a wide range of policy intentions that touch on artificial intelligence in the field of education.
Artificial intelligence has its own chapter and is mentioned across, among other areas, health, business and culture. Below, we bring together what the platform says about artificial intelligence in the school and education sector, so the overview is in one place.
The central point appears as initiative 10 under the chapter “Children’s Denmark”. The government will develop a national strategy for the use of artificial intelligence across the entire school and education sector. At the same time, the teaching of technology comprehension in the Danish primary and lower secondary school (folkeskole) will be strengthened.
According to the platform, the strategy should have several purposes. It should provide a framework for seizing the opportunities created by the technology, for example differentiated teaching and learning pathways. At the same time, it should act as a safeguard against inappropriate use of artificial intelligence in the classroom and in tests and examinations. It should also focus on digital sovereignty and on ensuring that the use of new technology in education takes place through solutions developed within a Danish school and learning tradition. According to the text, this can be achieved by supporting Danish and European development projects.
The strategy is also mentioned in the government platform’s separate chapter on artificial intelligence, chapter 12, where it features in a consolidated overview of AI initiatives across the platform. In the chapter, the government describes AI as both a major opportunity and a challenge, and it is stated that artificial intelligence is expected to bring about “deep and lasting changes” to both the labour market and education.
The education sector is also addressed elsewhere in the platform. In the section on a more flexible working life, the government proposes discussing a career transition fund to support reskilling and career changes, including for the part of the workforce where artificial intelligence is expected to alter competence requirements. The chapter on artificial intelligence also mentions an AI licence, which the government will offer in collaboration with civil society organisations.
The government platform does not specify the detailed content of the strategy. It states that it will be drawn up, but not when it will be available, or what specific requirements it will place on schools and education programmes.
