Global AI transformation: shaping vocational education and training

What is your positive vision for artificial intelligence (AI) in vocational training?

Hannes Barske: Artificial intelligence can help make vocational learning more inclusive and equitable. In particular, people who previously tended to be excluded from education will have better opportunities to access new areas of knowledge thanks to AI. Traditionally, texts and books have been the route to new knowledge. AI tools now allow people to learn intuitively through patient and responsive dialogue – for example with a chatbot. In this way, new skills can be developed in an action-based way. This offers great opportunities for vocational training. The decisive factor is that people remain in the driver's seat. AI must remain a tool for developing learning processes in an action-based, intersubjective and communicative way.

Eva Maria Zimmermann: If we look at international vocational training cooperation, AI gives us the opportunity to overcome linguistic and cultural hurdles. For example, we can have translation work done by artificial intelligence and also carry out many other tasks in projects with international partners more quickly and with fewer staff, such as complex background research or taking minutes and analysing international discussion rounds.
 

New skills for an AI-influenced working world

Question: What AI skills will be needed in the future?

Zimmermann: Learners must be able to deal with AI in a reflective manner: What applications are there, and how can they be meaningfully integrated into everyday working life? This reflection encompasses several aspects: a critical view of the possibilities and limitations of AI applications, an understanding of their impact on work processes and the ability to weigh up ethical and practical consequences. In VET, this multidimensional approach is essential in order to integrate AI in such a way that it supports learning and working in equal measure.

Barske: Education professionals need a sound understanding of AI bias in order to critically review curricula, examinations and training plans. This is the only way to prevent unconscious biases from training data seeping into education systems and reinforcing inequalities. It is equally important to prevent another danger: We must avoid AI systems drifting into self-referential loops that are detached from lived human experience. Its knowledge base must be continuously enriched with real-life experience and direct interpersonal communication – in moments when we collaborate, marvel or learn from each other. Today, AI still relies solely on past data. That makes it a tool for extrapolation – not yet a source of true innovation. The future remains a data-free space. In order to realise this potential, it needs continuous new impetus from human creativity, experience and research. Only from this can something emerge that goes beyond what is already known.

Question: But are AI tools already being used in vocational training in Germany?

Zimmermann: There are applications that are currently being trialled in pilot projects in several federal states. One example is the "Green Steel Skills" project in Saarbrücken from the "InnoVET" initiative for the fields of mechanical engineering, computer science and electrical engineering. In this project, AI systems are used to design individualised qualification concepts. In this case, AI helps to provide customised learning opportunities for learners. 

Vocational education and training in a European context

Frage: What are the current priorities of the European Parliament and Commission in terms of vocational training policy, and what role does AI transformation play in this?

Barske: One key topic is the European Commission's officially proclaimed ‘Union of Skills’. This goes far beyond individual fields of technology such as artificial intelligence and aims to create a Europe-wide networked skills and training system. The aim is to make skilled workers in all sectors more mobile, make qualifications comparable and promote lifelong learning. Europe is conceived here as a common economy and a unified labour market that needs well-trained skilled workers – not only in the digital or AI sector, but in all relevant occupational and competence fields. The AI transformation plays a dual role here: on the one hand, as a driver for the modernisation of learning and work processes, and on the other hand, as a touchstone for how we combine technological innovation with social responsibility. One example is the guiding principle of intergenerational justice, which the European Commission emphasises in various policy areas: political decisions should be designed in such a way that they take into account the interests of younger and future generations. For VET, this means that younger people must be empowered to deal with the challenges we leave them – from technological change to the consequences of climate change. At the same time, it is important to preserve the experiences of older generations with previous transformations, evaluate them using modern methods – including AI – and make them usable for the future. Their own further training must also be part of the plan. AI can be part of the solution here – and in some cases also part of the problem. Our task is to design it in such a way that it primarily contributes to solutions.

How can DLR Projektträger specifically help to tackle this organisational task in the context of vocational education and training? 

Zimmermann: We benefit from our experience in implementing international education projects as well as our networks worldwide and in individual partner countries. We have expertise in VET, but also in cooperation with other countries and regions. And we combine this knowledge in our projects with our experience in the administrative implementation of project funding.

Barske: As DLR Projektträger, we combine many different areas of expertise in a unique way. In international cooperation in the context of education, we are able to combine educational science, regional science and political science fundamentals with a high degree of intercultural competence and efficient project management tools in the right proportions, depending on the task at hand. In addition, the DLR conducts cutting-edge research on important topics such as AI and the use of green hydrogen. As one of the largest project management agencies in the field of education, we have developed a comprehensive and dense network with all relevant stakeholders over the past decades. In the context of international vocational training cooperation, this already represents a broad spectrum, as vocational training always takes place in negotiation between stakeholders from the state and the economy. These are the companies that provide training themselves and their organisations such as chambers of commerce and – last but not least! – the trade unions as social partners. We also base our work on an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary network of researchers at universities and other organisations. In this role, we we actively foster innovation in vocational education and training – nationally, accross Europe and in international cooperation.

Thank you very much for the interview!