UNESCO Honours AI Projects That Keep Students Thinking

Launched in 2022, Generation AI was jointly developed by the University of Eastern Finland, the University of Helsinki, the University of Oulu and other stakeholders.

Artificial intelligence can draft essays, answer questions and analyse information within seconds, creating a growing temptation for students to hand over the difficult work of reasoning, judging and imagining. UNESCO is recognising two education initiatives that take a different path, using digital tools to strengthen human thinking rather than allowing technology to become a substitute for it.

The 2026 UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Education has been awarded to Finland's "Generation AI" programme and Brazil's "Redação Paraná" project. Chosen from more than 100 nominations submitted by UNESCO Member States and partner organisations, the two winners were selected by an independent international jury of experts in digital technology and education.

The award ceremony took place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 9 September during Digital Learning Week 2026, which carried the theme "Education in the age of AI: Facts | Frictions | Frontiers". This year's prize highlighted practical approaches that encourage students to remain curious, creative and intellectually active while learning how to use increasingly capable AI systems responsibly.

Finland Turns Students from AI Users into Future Shapers

Launched in 2022, Generation AI was jointly developed by the University of Eastern Finland, the University of Helsinki, the University of Oulu and other stakeholders. The programme gives schools access to evidence-based tools, learning materials and classroom activities designed to help young people understand how AI works, question its influence and explore how these systems could be shaped differently.

Students are treated as active makers and investigators rather than passive consumers of technology. Through inquiry-based learning and co-design activities, they examine sophisticated features of AI and digital media, discuss ethical concerns, explain what they discover and imagine alternatives that reflect human needs and values. This approach gives learners space to build the confidence needed to challenge technology instead of simply accepting its answers.

Generation AI's materials have been accessed more than 200,000 times in over 50 countries, while its workshops and school interventions have involved around 1,500 students and teachers. UNESCO noted the programme's positive influence on scientific reasoning, ethical reflection and learners' ability to identify, explain and critique complex aspects of AI systems.

Brazil Uses AI Feedback to Strengthen Student Writing

Redação Paraná began as a pilot in 2020 before being introduced fully across the Brazilian state of Paraná in 2021. Created by the State Secretariat of Education of Paraná, the initiative operates as both a digital platform and a public education policy, expanding access to quality writing instruction for students across a large and diverse school system.

Learners move through structured cycles of writing, receiving AI-assisted feedback while continuing to work closely with their teachers. The technology helps identify areas for revision, while educators provide the context, guidance and human judgement needed to deepen students' language skills, argumentation, creativity and critical engagement with real-world subjects.

Teacher training forms an essential part of the programme because effective classroom technology depends on educators who understand how to use it with purpose. Redação Paraná has reached approximately 850,000 students in 2,000 schools, showing how a public education system can introduce AI at scale while keeping teachers involved and preserving writing as a thoughtful, creative process.

Education Technology Must Protect Independent Thought

The two winning projects respond to what UNESCO describes as a cognitive offloading crisis, where learners may become comfortable outsourcing intellectual effort to automated systems. Generation AI helps young people examine and reshape the technology surrounding them, while Redação Paraná combines rapid digital feedback with teacher-led instruction to support repeated writing and revision.

Their recognition sends a clear message to schools, governments and technology providers: success should not be measured only by how quickly AI produces an answer. Educational value comes from helping students ask stronger questions, test ideas, make informed judgements and express their own thinking with clarity. AI can support that process, but the learner's mind must remain at its centre.