The algorithm in the room: six questions UNESCO asks about AI and the future of education
UNESCO’s 2026 collection of 26 think pieces asks six urgent questions about AI in education: what they mean for teachers and leaders, with discussion prompts.
Key takeaways
- UNESCO published “The algorithm in the room” on 8 September 2026: 26 think pieces on the implications of AI for the future of education.
- The title plays on “the elephant in the room”: AI is driving profound changes to education that are often insufficiently discussed.
- The pieces are organised around six questions, covering agency, development, pedagogy and assessment, thinking and expression, governance and imagination.
- UNESCO’s wider position is a human-centred approach to AI, guided by inclusion and equity.
- Each question can become a practical conversation for a staff meeting or AI working group.
On 8 September 2026, the same day the OECD released PISA 2025 results, UNESCO published “The algorithm in the room: Seeing and confronting the implications of AI for the future of education”. It was released during UNESCO’s Digital Learning Week 2026, themed “Education in the age of AI: Facts, frictions and frontiers”.
The title plays on the expression “the elephant in the room”: a massive, far-reaching issue that is largely avoided. UNESCO argues that AI and other algorithmic technologies are driving profound changes to education but are often insufficiently acknowledged and discussed. The collection brings together 26 think pieces to help education communities see and confront those changes.
The six questions
The think pieces are organised around six urgent questions. Below, each is paired with what it might mean in a school, and a prompt to discuss with colleagues. The school implications and prompts are ours.
1. Who will hold agency, autonomy and oversight?
When AI tools suggest lesson content, grades or interventions, who makes the final decision, and who can question it? For schools, this is about keeping teachers and learners in control and making accountability for AI-supported decisions clear.
2. How will young people develop relationally, emotionally and cognitively?
Learning is social. If students turn to AI for explanations, feedback and even companionship, what happens to relationships with teachers and peers? PISA 2025 found that students’ sense of belonging improved in many systems, and that peer tutoring and teacher support are associated with better outcomes. Those human connections are worth protecting.
3. What will be meaningful and relevant for pedagogy and assessment?
If AI can produce a competent essay in seconds, what should students produce, and how should we assess understanding? Many schools are moving towards more process evidence, oral explanation and in-class work. See formative assessment and retrieval practice and what is pedagogy.
4. How will we think, question and express ourselves?
Thinking, questioning and self-expression are at the heart of education. PISA 2025 reported declines in students’ ability to evaluate information and think critically about texts, and a near-doubling of “hasty readers”. AI can either deepen or short-circuit those skills, depending on how it is used.
5. How will we govern education as a common good?
Education serves public purposes and should be accountable to the public. As AI systems from private providers enter classrooms, schools need to ask how data is used, how tools are chosen and how families are informed. A clear school AI policy is a starting point.
6. How might AI affect imagination about education’s future?
Technology can narrow our imagination, making the future seem inevitable, or widen it. UNESCO’s collection invites educators to shape the future of education actively rather than simply adapt to whatever technology arrives.
Using the questions in your school
- Choose one question per staff meeting or professional learning session.
- Ground the discussion in real examples from your classrooms.
- Record agreements and turn them into policy or practice.
- Invite student voice: students can discuss the same questions.
- Revisit the questions each year as tools and evidence change.
For the student side of these questions, see our guide to AI literacy. For the teacher side, see UNESCO’s AI competency frameworks.
Frequently asked questions
What is UNESCO’s “The algorithm in the room”?
A 2026 UNESCO publication of 26 think pieces about the implications of AI and algorithms for the future of education, published on 8 September 2026.
What are the six questions in “The algorithm in the room”?
Who will hold agency, autonomy and oversight? How will young people develop relationally, emotionally and cognitively? What will be meaningful and relevant for pedagogy and assessment? How will we think, question and express ourselves? How will we govern education as a common good? How might AI affect imagination about education’s future?
What is UNESCO’s position on AI in education?
UNESCO calls for a human-centred approach to AI in education, guided by the principles of inclusion and equity, and aims to ensure AI does not widen technological divides.