Invited Keynote "Upskilling, deskilling and skillflation. A critical reflection on the AI skills discourse and the implications for (VET) education"

Sep 22, 2025 · 1 min read
Abstract
With the public access to generative AI and the provocation that those tools could pass numerous high stakes exams there has been an intensive discourse on the impact of generative AI on the education system. This discourse consists of a “confusion of tongues” in which competences and skills are in the focus and knowledge is increasingly neglected and devaluated. This devaluation of knowledge is discussed under the themes of the constantly repeated need for upskilling, the danger of deskilling and the trend of skilllflation – a tendency to repeatedly invent new skills while neglecting existing ones. Epistemic and instructional implications are discussed and didactical strategies are proposed.
Date
Sep 22, 2025 2:00 PM — 2:45 PM
Event
Location

Universität Bremen, Germany

eventsSlides from AIPioneers Conference 22. September 2025, Bremen, Germany
Events Invited Talk Future Skills AI Skills
Marco Kalz
Authors
Marco Kalz
Professor of Educational Technology

I am a researcher in educational technology whose work explores how digital technologies reshape learning, teaching, and educational institutions. My research combines educational technology, learning sciences, feedback research, and critical perspectives on digital transformation.Current areas of interest include peer feedback and feedback literacy, open and networked learning, AI and misinformation in education, digital learning ecologies, and the societal implications of data-driven and platform-based education. Methodologically, my work spans empirical learning research, psychometric scale development, design-oriented research, and conceptual analyses of digital transformation in education.

I am working as a full professor of educational technology and Chief Information/Chief Digital Officer (CIO/CDO) at the Heidelberg University of Education. I serve as associate editor of the International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education and editorial board member of the Journal of Computing in Higher Education. I am a senior-fellow of the Interuniversity Center for Educational Sciences (ICO) and the Dutch research school on information and knowledge systems (SIKS). I work as director of the study program E-Learning and Media Education and director of the Heidelberg Centre for Digital Transformation in Education. Over the years I could secure approx. 4 Mio EUR of research funding for my institutions from competitive projects with a total budget of 36 Mio EUR. I have been an invited keynote speaker on more than 60 conferences and events. Besides European projects I am regularly involved in educational innovation and consulting projects with partners inside and outside of my institutions including clients like the International Labour Organisation, United Nations Environment Program, the European Commission, UNESCO, OECD or other international and national organizations.