The motivation for the GenAI-Natives project stems from the rapid advancements and great potential in generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, such as large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, and their increasing presence in education and beyond. Despite the swift adoption of these tools by students, there is limited understanding of how to effectively incorporate them into classroom settings, especially in primary and secondary education. In fact, the launch of LLMs has led to a series of concerns in the education sector. While students at different education levels have already started using it shortly after its introduction, there is limited experience when it comes to understanding the opportunities and risks of this technology particularly in the field work at primary and secondary schools (up to 18 years old). That is, although there is a fast growing body of literature, the rapid development of technology makes some of the findings partially outdated (e.g., early shortcomings of ChatGPT 3.5 in 2022 are not existing any more or much less prevalent with GPT4o in 2024) and there is not yet sufficient research given the relevance of the topic, i.e., generative AI is likely to fundamentally disrupt learning practices, while it is not well understood today. Since trillions of dollars are invested in AI in industry, progress is rapid, adoption staggering, requiring also investments by the public sector to keep up with developments. In short, a lot of evidence is needed from actual usage of generative AI in education to understand all its intricacies ranging from ethical concerns (biases, toxicity, misuse) onto technological shortcomings (such as hallucinations) and applications or tasks that work well in an education context. Furthermore, little work has investigated viewpoints from students, teachers, educators of
teachers and school authorities. The project aims to exactly contribute towards better understanding, deriving best practices for all stakeholders benefiting in particular teachers and students based on data from a large scale pilot-study in Liechtenstein. Ultimately, it should benefit not just teachers, school authorities and educators of teachers but also school children up to 18, parents, researchers and society as a whole.
This project should be funded because it directly addresses urgent needs in education related to AI integration. It offers a unique opportunity to evaluate AI tools in real classroom environments, generating practical knowledge that can be transformed into actionable teaching materials and curricula. By supporting teachers with courses and resources, the project helps them adapt to evolving digital landscapes and equips students with the digital literacy necessary for the future.