Chair's activities will be centered around the development and promotion of human-centered Artificial Intelligence and its applications in selected problems of Science, Engineering, Medicine and Education. It will also take a part in AI-Ethics and AI in psychological science development as well as discussion in AI-legislation processes. To provide increased access to knowledge and reduce the digital literacy deficit, the interactive, remote AI-Ethics certificate courses, will be carried out, subject to availability supported by Extended Reality.

Activities will be carried out in the area of contemporary technology, materials science, information science, and biomedical engineering, accompanied by international cooperation, and links with industry. The Chair will promote the exchange of knowledge, technology development, and support educational activities for the versatile development of public education, especially in Africa, MENA Region, and SIDS islands.

The original Science popularizing program will be developed. It will contribute to awakening the discovery spirit in future students and will lay the foundation for the development of the technological environment, which will be in the service of humankind through sharing of the knowledge and supporting skills development in the digital age. As forms of dialogue form between specialists conference in the area of AI will be organized.

These address basic UNESCO aims like education for sustainable development and global citizenship, equal access to technical/vocational and higher education, effective learning environments, and strategic objective 4 in the 2022-2029 Medium-Term Strategy Report.

The Chair will act to the establishment of institutional and national rules and policies concerning AI-Ethics and AI transparent application as a human capital-building component. Thus, the Chair's aim follows the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular, SDG4 of the UN General Assembly. The Chair will be supported by partners from Africa Region and thus it should contribute remarkably to UNESCO's Global Priority Africa.

Main Focus Areas

• Address digital literacy gaps through open AI trainings
• Promote human-centered AI across disciplines
• Apply AI in technology with ethical focus
• Tackle gender bias and empower young women
• Contribute to AI ethics law (EU AI Act, GDPR)
• Identify and connect ethical AI research centers
• Cooperate with UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN
• The main area of scientific activities will be Generative AI and Explainable AI (XAI)

UNESCO Chairs are part of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme. They are university-based hubs that link research, higher education and public policy through international cooperation and capacity-building.

How the programme works

• Each Chair is set up by an agreement between UNESCO and a host institution.
• It pools expertise via international networks and “twinning”.
• It coordinates people and knowledge (not core funding).
• Activities align with UNESCO priorities and the UN SDGs.

What a UNESCO Chair typically does

• Runs joint research and training programmes.
• Develops curricula and open educational resources.
• Builds capacity and exchanges staff/students.
• Advises policy and shares good practices.
• Engages with society and industry.
• Connects regions with a focus on equity.

Our Chair in brief

• Ethical, human-centred AI across science and engineering.
• Remote AI-Ethics certificates (subject to availability) incl. XR support.
• International cooperation with emphasis on Africa, MENA and SIDS.
• Contribution to SDG4 and UNESCO’s Global Priority Africa.

The specific objectives of this Chair are to:

• address digital literacy gaps by designing and delivering remote open courses and trainings on artificial inteligence;
• develop and promote human-centered AI across engineering, biomedical sciences and public education through collaborative research, knowledge exchange networks and awareness raising campaigns;
• promote the applications of artificial intelligence in technology while considering ethical aspects for the benefit and safety of society
• engage the scientific community to tackle gender bias in artificial intelligence, promote gender equality and inspire young women in artificial intelligence and technical fields
• contribute to artificial intelligence ethics and legislative discussions, focusing on the UE AI Liability Directive and the protection of personal data in artificial intelligence, as well as UNESCO's Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence;
• identify research centers and establish cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence research and development, in particular in the ethical context;
• cooperate closely with UNESCO, other UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks on relevant programmes and activities.