The Global Smart Education Conference 2025 (GSE2025) kicked off in Beijing on August 18 (GMT+8). The conference, themed "Human-AI Collaboration: Reshaping the Educational Ecosystem for the Future," brought together domestic and overseas experts, scholars, and frontline educators from the fields of education, technology, and enterprise. Together, they explored innovative pathways for the deep integration of new technologies with education, shared new educational practices in human-AI co-cultivation, co-teaching, and co-learning, and reflected on how to build a safe, efficient, and sustainable new ecosystem for smart education. The conference hosted over 500 international and domestic guests, with more than 2,200 representatives attending on-site.

Renowned institutions and industry elites in the field of smart education made appearances at the conference. The headquarters of UNESCO, along with 6 UNESCO Category 1 Institutes, 12 UNESCO Chairs, and key UNESCO-affiliated institutions such as the Global Alliance on the Science of Learning for Education, are deeply involved in the conference. At the same time, representatives from member organizations such as the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALESCO), the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), along with 32 representatives from the International Association of Universities (IAU) across 24 countries, 14 editors-in-chief of international academic journals, representatives from 20 domestic educational journals, as well as leaders from various international organizations, universities, and the academic publishing community attended the conference to explore the future development of smart education.

A Conference on Co-Creating the Ideal Vision of Smart Education

At the beginning of the "first year of smart education," the digital transformation of education is ushering in a critical breakthrough. Smart education, as the "ideal" state of educational reform and development in the intelligent era, is the target form of the digital transformation of education. Building a community with a shared future for smart education requires the collaboration of governments, schools, enterprises, and other stakeholders to jointly address the challenges of new technologies, seize new opportunities in educational development, and lay the foundation for cultivating talents capable of adapting to future advancements.

H.E. Mr. WU Yan, Vice Minister of Education of China, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. He stated that the theme of the conference embodies both international advancement and the contemporary significance of China’s efforts to build a strong educational nation. He emphasized that the Chinese government attaches great importance to educational digitalization, and views it as a crucial breakthrough to open up new avenues for educational development and shape new competitive advantages. He pointed out that the rapid iteration of AI profoundly impacts education, and educational digitalization is a strategic imperative that determines the success or failure of building a strong educational nation. China is advancing the deep integration of AI into all areas of education. Over the past three years of implementing strategic initiatives, five major transformations have emerged: First, it is transforming how students can learn. By applying AI to creating equitable, intelligent, and accessible learning environments, it realizes "education for all," particularly benefiting special education. Second, it is reshaping how teachers can "teach". By embedding AI throughout the entire teaching process, it helps enhance the accumulation and sharing of high-quality resources. Third, it is revolutionizing how schools can "manage". By improving decision-making and service levels, it drives intelligent governance in education. Fourth, it is changing research paradigms in higher education, achieving breakthroughs in fields like quantum computing and biopharmaceuticals. Fifth, it is redefining the very form of education and reshaping teacher-student relationships and school spaces. He introduced the "Three Innovations" framework for smart education development proposed by China (transitioning from digitalization to a new stage of smart education, establishing new standards for competency-based talent cultivation, and exploring new pathways for future education reform) and the "Four Futures" (cultivating future teachers, building future classrooms, developing future schools, and creating future learning centers). In conclusion, he called for a global collaborative effort to transcend the boundaries of traditional education and work together to build a brighter new era of smart education.

Prof. YU Jihong, President of Beijing Normal University, pointed out in her speech that with the rapid development of generative AI and big data technologies, education is undergoing profound transformation, and digital transformation is an inevitable path for global educational reform. As a pioneer in China's teacher education, Beijing Normal University (BNU) actively responds to the national call by promoting the demonstration project of the educational digitalization strategy. It has launched the special reform initiative "AI + Higher Education" and fully implemented the Competent Teacher Project. As the inaugural chair and co-secretary-general of the World Digital Education Alliance, BNU has fully leveraged its leadership role, actively promoted the cross-border flow of digital education concepts and resources through international platforms, and thereby contributed Chinese wisdom to the organization. In response to the era-defining question of "What role should education play in the intelligent era?", she called upon colleges and universities to earnestly fulfill their mission: First, they should proactively lead the digital transformation in education by fostering deep integration between AI and teaching practices; Second, they should actively innovate talent cultivation models and establish new paradigms for fostering top-tier innovative talents; Third, they should explore interdisciplinary convergence to facilitate groundbreaking original innovations; Fourth, they should continuously deepen digital collaboration in education and jointly advance the long-term development of education for all humanity. She called on global stakeholders to explore new pathways for smart education through open dialogue and collaborative practices and jointly inject momentum for transformation.

H.E. Prof. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), stated that AI, as an unprecedented new technology, is driving educational transformation, enhancing educational quality, and expanding access to learning opportunities. ALECSO and UNESCO always prioritize the ethical regulation, governance, and application of AI. Through the formulation of initiatives and development plans, they have promoted the responsible use of technology in fields such as education, culture, and scientific research, striving to leverage AI as a pivotal tool for bridging educational disparities and achieving equity in education across Arab nations.

Miss. Anita Yuen Mei Fung, Board Member of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, stated that smart education is not merely focused on technology itself, but more importantly, on supporting the comprehensive educational development from childhood through adolescence. The Hong Kong Jockey Club has established a three-phase smart education model that sets sail with emotional engagement, builds a foundation with capability enhancement, and empowers education through adaptability, with the goal to support young people in their journey to becoming promising and accomplished individuals. She looked forward to deepening cooperation with global partners to jointly build an open, shared, and inclusive new paradigm for the future of education.

Achievements Released to Contribute China’s Proposal on Smart Education

Smart education has been included in the core agenda of global educational development. The international community is actively engaged in renewing educational philosophies, transforming pedagogical models, innovating teaching methodologies, fostering on-demand learning, and collectively envisioning and realizing a future educational landscape empowered by technology, characterized by green development, and built upon open collaboration. China positions smart education as a crucial component of its national strategy for overall educational modernization, actively engages itself in global education governance, and contributes China’s proposal on smart education.

At the opening ceremony, Prof. HUANG Ronghuai, Co-Dean of Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University and UNESCO Chair on Artificial Intelligence in Education, unveiled a groundbreaking achievement—the world's first publication outlining the vision of education for 2050, titled Smart Education: Pathways toward Education 2050. The book was published by Educational Science Publishing House and selected for the National Publication Foundation Project. As part of the Smart Education Development Series, this book encapsulates over a decade of theoretical exploration and practical experience in the field of smart education by the team led by Prof. HUANG Ronghuai at BNU. It addresses core issues in the era of educational transformation and responds to shared concerns in global education development.

Prof. HUANG Ronghuai pointed out that BNU, rooted in teacher education, has established an international exchange and dialogue platform for smart education since launching the US-China Smart Education Conference in 2016. In collaboration with UNESCO and top-tier institutions, it initiated the National Smart Education Joint Research Program and founded the Global Smart Education Network (GSENet), committed to promoting inclusive and future-oriented educational development. He pointed out that the book follows the fundamental logic of "examining the global digital transformation process, identifying the basic forms of smart education, optimizing the pathways for educational digital transformation, and outlining the educational vision of the intelligent era," aiming to explore "how smart education can become the global common goal for education by 2050." The book is divided into four sections, delving into the digital transformation of education, the performative features of smart education, the constructive features of smart education, and the future vision of smart education. It aims to construct a comprehensive research framework for smart education and offer academic insights and operational guidance for educational reform in the intelligent era. While serving national strategies, the book also actively responds to the global consensus on educational development towards 2050, aiming to contribute universally valuable Chinese solutions to the global education community.

Prof. CHEN Li from the Faculty of Education of Beijing Normal University presented on the topic of AI-Based Innovative Solution for Comprehensive Quality Assessment of Chinese Students. She introduced her team’s core achievements with the support of projects from the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education. By utilizing technologies such as multimodal data processing, the team built the SEED Platform, reconstructed evaluation models, and achieved nationally comparable feedback on student development levels. This provides intelligent and precise comprehensive quality evaluation for students in grades 3-11. During the conference, a series of significant outcomes will also be released, including but not limited to: the UNESCO AI Competency Framework, theRegional Community of Practice Initiative on Science of Learning, the Lead for Technology: A Regional Edition of the 2024/5 GEM Report on Education Leadership and Digital Transformation in East Asia, the Initiation Ceremony of Intelligent Agent Empowerment Education and Teaching Application Demonstration Action, the UNESCO E-library for Teachers Project Theme Activity: Short Video Series "Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Education–The Future is Here", the Digital Transformation Collaborative for Education (DTC), and the EDA Platform.

Collaborative Actions to Deepen Global Smart Education Practices

The concept of a "social compact" advocated by UNESCO, along with the vision of an inclusive digital future proposed in the Global Digital Compact, guides international cooperation. Through policy dialogue, experience sharing, and joint actions, stakeholders can collectively address the global challenges posed by intelligent technologies in education, such as inclusion, equity, ethics, and safety. This will accelerate the global flow and equitable sharing of quality education resources, ensuring that the benefits of smart education truly reach learners worldwide.

H.E. Ms. Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO, attended the conference via video and addressed the audience. She emphasized that the development of AI must be "human-centered," and the education system requires systematic adjustments to adapt to the paradigm shift. She warned that learners' over-reliance on AI could lead to the surrender of autonomous decision-making rights, and advocated for adherence to education's four foundational pillars—learning, thinking, being, and development—to ensure that technological collaboration does not erode judgment, sense of responsibility, or humanistic care. She looks forward to promoting the genuine empowerment of teachers and students through AI by deepening collaboration with Beijing Normal University and other universities and research institutions, and thereby serving the development of higher education globally.

H.E. Ms. Dubravka Bošnjak, Minister of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, emphasized that global education is undergoing profound transformation driven by AI, necessitating human-AI collaboration to address the challenges. Bosnia and Herzegovina will implement multiple initiatives to promote educational equity and development: ensuring equitable access to data and internet resources for all students to bridge the digital divide; supporting teacher training to enhance their technical capabilities and leadership; and establishing globally consistent ethical guidelines to ensure that AI serves as an auxiliary tool in education, among other measures.

H.E. Prof. Marie-Thérèse Sombo Ayane, Minister of Higher and University Education, Democratic Republic of the Congo, emphasized that knowledge has never been more accessible, yet disparities in access persist. She pointed out that smart education must benefit all to realize its true value. She stated that global smart education must rely on three fundamental commitments: universal access, ethical responsibility, and active collaboration. She called on all countries to jointly build inclusive digital education centers to ensure that every child has equal access to learning opportunities.

H.E. Prof. Ali Haidar Ahmed, Minister of Higher Education, Labour, and Skills Development, Republic of Maldives, emphasized the disruptive power of digital education in empowering future development and driving transformative changes in the education system. He called for enhancing teachers’ digital literacy and skills to address challenges, drawing on outstanding international practices to bridge the digital divide, and integrating new technologies to build an equitable and inclusive educational ecosystem.

H.E. Mr. Moustapha Mamba Guirassy, Minister of National Education, The Republic of Senegal, emphasized that digital transformation involves technology as well as cultural heritage and social inclusion. Education must be deeply rooted in communities while maintaining global connectivity. He called on the international community to collaborate with the private sector to support inclusive education and ethical AI, emphasizing that data is the key to AI fairness and localization, and that only through content, cooperation, and connectivity can educational transformation be achieved.

H.E. Prof. Sherif Kishk, Assistant to the Minister for Smart Governance, Higher Education and Scientific Research, The Arab Republic of Egypt, stated that education is shifting from the traditional model of knowledge impartation to a new paradigm that empowers learners through technology. He pointed out that AI should play a supportive role to ensure equitable access and avoid exacerbating inequalities or stifling human creativity. He called for the international community to strengthen cooperation, share experiences and knowledge, and jointly promote the development of global smart education.

H.E. Mr. Douglas Munsaka Syakalima, Minister of Education, The Republic of Zambia, stated that digital education has become a fundamental right in the 21st century, but the digital divide still persists, particularly in landlocked countries. He proposed that digital education should focus on three aspects: providing lifelong learning skills and platforms; promoting innovative learning through peer exchanges, creative training, and climate action; and enhancing educational inclusivity to support learners and teachers with disabilities.

Prof. Asha S. Kanwar, Chair of Governing Board of UNESCO IITE and Chair Professor at Beijing Normal University, shared the 2025GSENet annual report titled Smart Education in the Age of AI. She pointed out that smart education has gone beyond technological integration. It has evolved into an educational model centered on learners, integrating social-emotional learning and inclusive development, which serves as both a vision and goal for shaping the future of education. She called for the following actions: strengthening global partnerships through platforms like GSENet; enhancing collaboration among governments, institutions, and society to formulate evidence-based policies and drive sustainable educational transformation; focusing on the development of 4Cs (Connectivity, Content, Capacity, and Collaboration) in regions like Africa, and drawing on the experiences of countries such as China to achieve education modernization empowered by technology.

Mr. GUO Xinli, Vice President of the China Association of Higher Education, delivered a speech on the development of China’s digital education in the AI era. He pointed out that AI presents both a strategic opportunity and a critical variable influencing the development of education in China. AI is powerfully driving the transformation of teaching, education, and research models, and prompting changes in traditional classroom structures while also presenting new demands for teachers. He shared a case study of Shandong University utilizing AI tools to empower education, and called for an acceleration in building a new educational paradigm for the intelligent era to better support students’ holistic development and personalized growth.

Technological Innovation to Create a New Ecosystem for Human-AI Collaborative Education

Technological innovation lies not only in the tools themselves, but more importantly in the profound shift it brings to mindsets: the knowledge view of mass creation and sharing, the learning view of intelligent connectivity, the curriculum view of integration and openness, and the teaching view of human-AI collaboration. To seize the opportunities presented by technological advancement, it is imperative to further integrate technology and education to build a new, open, and inclusive educational ecosystem that responds to the demands of the intelligent era.

WANG Xiaoyun, Professor at Tsinghua University and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, emphasized in her keynote speech titled Cryptographic Technologies and Artificial Intelligence Security that AI security has become a global concern, while cryptography serves as the core foundation for addressing its challenges. AI can assist in cryptanalysis, for example, by using machine learning to crack DRS lattice-based signatures and conduct symmetric cryptanalysis. Cryptography also improves AI security by enabling "usable yet invisible" large model inference through privacy-preserving computation technologies such as fully homomorphic encryption and zero-knowledge proofs, providing AI systems with a provably secure paradigm for data privacy protection. She emphasized the deep integration of AI with cryptography, where cryptographic techniques are adopted to fortify the security defenses of AI while leveraging AI to drive innovation in cryptographic algorithms, and stakeholders can jointly address the security challenges of the intelligent era.

Dr. Manos Antonini, Director of the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report, emphasized in his People-Centred Technological Development: Insights from the Global Education Monitoring Report that the introduction of educational technology requires the establishment of clear guidelines to ensure its scalability, equity, sustainability, and suitability for local contexts. He particularly warned that digital technologies should serve as a beneficial supplement rather than a replacement for human-AI interaction, and called for always prioritizing student welfare, and focusing on the actual effectiveness of learning outcomes rather than mere digital investment, to achieve genuine educational progress.

Mr. LI Yongzhi, President of China National Academy of Educational Sciences (CNAES), delivered a keynote speech titled AI Redefining Education: New Explorations in the Development of China’s Smart Education. He pointed out that the urgent task of educational reform lies in reconstructing the logic of the curriculum, emphasizing that "what to learn" is more important than "how to learn". He shared the China Smart Education Development Report (2024-2025), which is structured around the "3C" philosophy of "Connection, Content, and Cooperation", follows an "3I" approach of "Integration, Intelligence, and Internationalization", and prioritizes application-oriented services, aiming to contribute Chinese wisdom and solutions to global educational transformation.

Prof. LIU Dejian, Founder and Chairman of NetDragon Websoft Inc., and Dr. Simon Leung, Vice Chairman and Executive Director of NetDragon Websoft Inc., delivered a keynote speech titled AI-Powered Education: Revolutionizing Learning Engagement. Prof. Liu appeared in the form of a digital human avatar, expressing his belief that the future of experiential learning lies in harnessing the full potential of AI and machine systems for on-demand learning. He highlighted that NetDragon Websoft’s AI Production Center and EDA Platform can help achieve this goal. Dr. Simon Leung described the EDA Platform as an inclusive ecosystem that engages teachers, students, government personnel, and content creators, offering significant value in advancing smart education. He expressed hope that countries would leverage the EDA Platform to build a learning society and jointly promote global education development.

Mr. Omar Baig, Chief Information and Technology Officer of UNESCO, proposed in his report the establishment of an integrated UNESCO data center, which would leverage AI-powered insights to enhance initiatives. He pointed out that this data center would enable large-scale data management and interconnectivity, accelerate data analysis for faster response to complex issues, introduce new working methods, and improve project performance monitoring. He believed that this would help UNESCO adopt more targeted policies across global education, the natural sciences, cultural heritage protection, and other fields. He called for collective participation from all sectors of society.

Mr. YUAN Jun, Vice President of the National Data Development Research Institute, China, stated in his report titled Accelerating High-Quality Dataset Development in Education for Advancing Smart Education that data has emerged as a new production factor in the digital economy era and a key driver of AI development. High-quality datasets are crucial for enabling smart education. He proposed the following suggestions: to align the dataset development with actual needs and clarify objectives; to improve standards and regulations to establish a clear development path; to reform institutional mechanisms to foster a thriving industrial ecosystem.

Mr. NIE Xiaolin, Co-Founder, Board Member, and Senior Vice President of iFLYTEK Co., Ltd., delivered a report titled Mutual Empowerment & Collaborative Advancement: Exploring AI-Education Integration Innovations. He emphasized that AI and education are forming a “mutually empowering” closed loop: On one hand, AI-powered tools, such as those built on technologies like the iFLYTECH Spark large model, are already being deployed across multiple scenarios—from college entrance examination grading and classroom interaction to sports psychology—demonstrating AI's large-scale empowerment of teaching and learning. On the other hand, educational scenarios feed back into AI iteration, where high-quality data and instructional design standards continuously enhance the capabilities of large models, achieving a symbiotic progression from "AI empowering education to education empowering AI". He called for global collaboration to build secure and controllable educational sovereign large models, share experiences, and drive the upgrading of the educational ecosystem.

Prof. Curtis J. Bonk from Indiana University, USA, delivered a keynote speech titled It’s Time to Wake Up: AI-Enhanced Self-Directed Learning is Here! He stated that AI provides new opportunities for self-directed learning and enables students to independently choose their learning content and methods. He pointed out that the global proliferation of open education and online courses is crucial for students to master self-directed learning skills. He shared the PA-SDA self-directed learning model and related guidelines, advocating for the use of AI and related technologies to popularize self-directed learning.

Prof. CHEN Xing, Vice President of Beijing Normal University, presided over the opening ceremony of the conference. H.E. Prof. Kaviraj Sukon, Minister of Tertiary Education, Science and Research, Mauritius, chaired the high-level dialogue during the opening session. Prof. ZHAN Tao, Director of UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE), Dr. Sarena Shivers, Board of Directors of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and Dr. Habibah Abdul Rahim, Secretary-General of Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), co-moderated the plenary session titled “Human-AI Collaboration: Reshaping the Educational Ecosystem for the Future.”

It is reported that the conference will last until August 20, featuring 2 plenary sessions, 17 parallel sessions, 4 thematic forums, and 4 thematic events. Additionally, a smart education exhibition will be held, the Global Smart Education Innovation Prize will be presented, and the Global Smart Education Cooperation Initiative will be launched. The conference covers areas such as preschool education, basic education, higher education, vocational education, and lifelong learning, addressing themes like human-AI collaborative teaching, student assessment, digital leadership, smart learning environments, integration of technology and education & integration of industry and education, academic publishing, and international communication. It also focuses on hot topics, including rural education, teacher education, AI education, science education, and smart reading.

GSE2025 is co-organized by Beijing Normal University and UNESCO IITE, and co-hosted by the Smart Learning Institute, Faculty of Education, and Faculty of Psychology, China Institute of Education and Social Development, and the National Engineering Research Center of Cyberlearning and Intelligent Technology, Beijing Normal University.

The conference received support from partners such as the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO). It also garnered backing from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, as well as enterprises including NetDragon Websoft Inc., iFLYTEK Co., Ltd., AVA Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., References-AI Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., Huawei, China Unicom, Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Education, Beijing Normal University Publishing Group, Beijing Yuanli Science and Technology Co., Ltd., 17Edtech, Beijing Certificate Authority Co., Ltd., UNIS MOEDU Technology Co., Ltd., BeijingWenhua Online Education Technology Co., Ltd., Ulearning, and Hechuang Technology.