Greece Takes Initial Steps to Integrate AI in Education Through AI4edu Program

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes an integral part of daily life globally, Greece is exploring its potential role in education, aiming to incorporate it into the national school curriculum. The country is taking its first steps toward this goal through the AI4edu program, co-funded by the European Union.

The initiative introduces two interactive AI assistants: Study Buddy for students and Teacher Mate for educators. These tools aim to enhance the learning experience and support both learners and teachers in the classroom.

AI4edu brings together six organizations from four EU member states, including Greece's Athena Research and Innovation Center, Luleå University of Technology (Sweden), the University of Cyprus and Cyprus Pedagogical Institute, Drumcondra Education Center (Ireland), and Ellinogermaniki Agogi (Greece).

Study Buddy engages with students in natural language—both text and voice—acting as a mentor, tutor, and creator of exercises. It aids students in understanding concepts, offers interactive learning, helps edit written assignments, generates quizzes, and provides grading. Fully integrated with school textbooks, it delivers personalized support tailored to each student’s needs.

Teacher Mate serves as a communication tool for educators, offering a natural language interface and a dashboard to monitor student progress, generate assessments, and provide feedback. It also assists with lesson planning and curriculum design and offers additional teaching resources beyond the textbook.

According to Nikos Panagiotopoulos, a Sociology professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, one of the primary benefits of AI integration in education is its ability to enable personalized learning experiences for students. Additionally, the tools provide immediate feedback on student work, which can save valuable time for both teachers and students.

However, the use of AI in education also raises concerns among experts. A major issue is the potential for information overload, with vast amounts of accessible content making it difficult for students to process effectively. Moreover, AI systems generate significant amounts of data from interactions between teachers and students, creating a challenge for educators who may not have the necessary expertise to analyze and use this data effectively.