Education Futures

In this episode of Education Futures , Svenia Busson is joined by Michaela Horvathova , founder of Beyond Education and former policy analyst at the OECD . For more than a decade, Michaela has worked on an important and misunderstood challenge in education: how to define, develop, and assess metacognition and soft skills. As AI makes knowledge abundant and easily accessible, these competencies are...

What does it mean to assess learning in a world where AI can generate answers instantly? In this episode of Education Futures , Svenia Busson is joined by Alina von Davier , Chief of Assessment at Duolingo , and Elie Bechara , who works on institutional partnerships for the Duolingo English Test . Together, they bring a rare combination of assessment science, product innovation, and real-world uni...

What should universities teach in the age of AI? In this episode of Education Futures , Svenia Busson speaks with Art Markman , Chief Academic Officer at Minerva University and a leading expert in cognitive science, decision-making, and learning. With a career spanning academia, research, and applied learning design, Art brings a powerful perspective on how education must evolve — not just to keep...

What happens when students start trusting AI more than their teachers? In this episode of Education Futures , Svenia Busson speaks with Mary Burns , researcher at the Brookings Institution and co-author of the report “A New Direction for Students in an AI World: Prosper, Prepare, Protect.” With over 40 years of experience in education — from classroom teaching to advising ministries of education a...

What if we asked children how to design the future of education? In this special episode of Education Futures , Svenia Busson is joined by Selena Marwaha , an 11-year-old builder, coder, and speaker who has already presented at global events such as COP28 , COP29 , and WISE Summit Qatar . She is joined by François Taddei , co-founder of the Learning Planet Institute , whose work focuses on collect...

Are we building educational technology faster than we can prove it actually works? In this episode of Education Futures , Svenia Busson speaks with Natalia Kucirkova , professor at the University of Stavanger and co-founder of the International Centre for EdTech Impact . Natalia has spent years researching how children learn, and how digital tools can (or cannot) support that process. Her work sit...

What should we protect in education, as AI transforms how we learn, think, and work? In this episode of Education Futures , Svenia Busson speaks with Nick Krichevsky , a high school teacher and Head of Digitalization at the German International School Johannesburg in South Africa. With over 15 years of teaching experience across Germany and South Africa, Nick brings a grounded, classroom-based per...

In this episode of Education Futures , Svenia Busson speaks with education entrepreneur Ed Fidoe , founder of London Interdisciplinary School and co-founder of School 21 in London. Ed has spent the last decade building new kinds of educational institutions from the ground up. His work challenges one of the core assumptions of higher education: that students should specialize in a single discipline...

In this episode, Svenia Busson speaks with Guila Clara Kessous , a UNESCO Artist for Peace and Harvard teacher, about the intersection of art, education, and peace-building. They explore how performing arts and literature can heal trauma and how "diplomatic entrepreneurship" can help the next generation navigate a world shaped by AI and social media. Key Topics Guila’s Journey : From performing ar...

In this episode of Education Futures , we speak with Kristen DiCerbo , Chief Learning Officer at Khan Academy , where she leads the teams responsible for content, product design, assessment, and learning science. With a PhD in educational psychology, Kristen brings a rare perspective to the AI conversation: learning science first, technology second. We explore how Khan Academy is building Khanmigo...

By 2050, Sub-Saharan Africa will be home to nearly 1 billion people under 18. Today, 90% of 10-year-olds in the region cannot read a simple paragraph (according to the World Bank) What happens when artificial intelligence accelerates, but foundational literacy remains out of reach for millions of children? In this episode of Education Futures , Svenia Busson speaks with Paul Atherton , founder of...

AI is already in classrooms. The real question is: who is responsible for governing it? In this episode of Education Futures , Svenia Busson sits down with Clara Hawking , founder of Kompass Education, to explore what AI governance actually means for schools and educators. As governments roll out new regulations, including the EU AI Act, schools are facing urgent questions around compliance, safet...

In this episode of Education Futures , host Svenia Busson sits down with Ken Shelton , a 20-year teaching veteran and global thought leader in educational technology. Drawing from his experience working with schools in over 50 countries , Ken challenges the "all gas, no brakes" approach to AI, as well as the knee-jerk "ban and block" mentality seen in many governments. Key topics discussed in this...

In this episode of Education Futures , we explore the "AI Leap" —Estonia's ambitious national strategy to roll out a specialized version of OpenAI across the entire country. Our guest, Jaan , is a neuroscientist and psychologist at the University of Tartu who is leading the scientific team overseeing and evaluating this project. Unlike standard implementations, Estonia has collaborated with OpenAI...

In this episode of Education Futures , host Svenia Busson sits down with Alex Sarlin , the founder of EdTech Insiders and Global Edtech lead at the ASU GSV Summit . With over 15 years of experience at giants like Coursera and Skillshare, Alex provides a masterclass on where learning is headed in the age of generative AI. Alex challenges the dystopian view of AI as an isolating force, arguing inste...

In this episode, we sit down with François Taddei , Chief Exploration Officer of the Learning Planet Institute, to discuss the radical shifts needed in global education. François shares his vision of "ethical dream-weaving"—the process of building futures that are a nightmare for no one—and argues that in a world of polycrisis, hope and collective wisdom are the only tools that can truly scale. Ke...

AI in education is evolving at a pace that often overwhelms teachers, school leaders, and policymakers. New tools appear weekly. Research lags behind practice. Hype fills the gap. So how do we make good decisions when certainty is impossible? In this episode of Education Futures , Svenia is joined by Chris Agnew , who leads the AI Hub for Education at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning . Chris...

In this episode of Education Futures , we welcome Louis Rosenberg — technologist, entrepreneur, and long-time researcher in virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence. Louis has spent decades building technologies designed to augment human intelligence and warning about the risks when we fail to understand what we are building. In this conversation, we focus on a phenomenon Lo...

What is education actually for, in a world where AI can increasingly do things for us? In this episode of Education Futures , recorded at the Learning Planet Institute in Paris, we sit down with Seth Frey , professor at UC Davis working at the intersection of computer science, social science, and self-governance. Seth’s work focuses on a rarely discussed question: what skills do humans need to run...

What if artificial intelligence isn’t the real threat to higher education? In this episode of Education Futures , we speak with Michael Burgess , a sharp and uncompromising voice on the future of higher education, to unpack a provocative idea: Universities don’t have a technology problem, they have a strategy problem. Michael argues that AI isn’t breaking universities. It’s revealing what has been...

Are we really living through the worst moment in history, or are we actually in the best position ever to build a better future? In this episode of Education Futures , we welcome Beatrice Erkers , Existential Hope Program Manager at the Foresight Institute . Beatrice works at the intersection of technology, long-term thinking, and societal progress, helping people move beyond doom narratives to im...

What does school look like through the eyes of a 15-year-old who actually uses AI to learn, not just to finish homework faster? In this episode of Education Futures , Laurent & Svenia sit down with Hudson , a high school student from San Diego who is already doing computer science education research, and working with a UCSD mentor on learning science–informed approaches to teaching. Hudson sha...

Is learning how to code still relevant when AI can generate code for us? In this episode of Education Futures , we sit down with Dora Palfi , founder of imagi, to explore what computer science education should become in an AI-driven world — and what must not be lost along the way. Dora has a background in computer science and neuroscience and has spent years working at the intersection of educatio...

In this special award-winning series for the Future of Life Institute's Keep the Future Human contest, host Svenia Busson sits down with teenagers from across Europe and the US. In this episode, host Svenia Busson sits down with three international students based in Paris and Barcelona: Emma (13), Jack (14), and Hector (16). Moving between metaphors of movies and video game controllers, they tackl...

In this episode Svenia sits down with Hudson (15), Joseph (15), and Violet (17), high school students in San Diego and members of their high school’s AI Club. She decodes Anthony Aguirre’s "Keep the Future Human" essay and ask these high school students burning questions around AI. Moving far beyond surface-level tech talk, they tackle the hardest ethical questions facing Silicon Valley today. In...