Tuesday September 23rd, as part of MK Tech Week 2025 and alongside Esther Spring, KMi’s Prof. John Domingue chaired a conference in our Hub Theatre, sponsored by Infosys, which welcomed 150 educators, policy-makers, artists and technologists to explore how artificial intelligence can widen—rather than disrupt—opportunities for adult learners. Opened by Emily Darlington MP and OU Pro-Vice-Chancellors Ian Pickup, and Mark Brandon, the day blended policy, practice and playfulness, proving that the future of learning is still irretrievably human. Between them the opening speakers covered the importance of accessibility and fairness and stressed how Milton Keynes and the OU are such amazing places to investigate the intersection between AI and learning.
Morning of Art, Architecture and Ethics
Our first keynote of the day was from the artist Jocelyn Burnham who urged delegates to “unschool” themselves, modelling how curiosity and tinkering beats formal curricula when machines can already pass many formal exams. KMi’s Prof Miriam Fernandez followed with a sobering but hopeful map of the biases hidden in university datasets and the transparent audits that can fix them. Marco Antonio Alfaro Ruz carried us from algorithm to architecture, showing spectacular AI-generated buildings that are inspired by the shape and structure of termite mounds.
Lunch with Innovations
Further stimulation on all things technical was provided over lunch through a dedicated exhibition. In addition to stands from Infosys and Innova there were KMi stands covering our AI work on teaching on learning (OU Analyse and AIDA) as well as our work on citizen science and AI. Delegates also had an option to have a tour for the OU XR studios.
Conversations that lingered
The afternoon began with a panel, chaired by John and composed of: Peter Gill (Assistant Vice President, Head of Public Sector, Infosys), David Hayes (OU Chief Data Officer) and Sophie Lloyd (Head of Economic Development, Milton Keynes City Council). Together they spun statistics into stories: a care-worker retrained as a data steward at 54; a refugee coder whose first UK pay-slip came via an AI-matched apprenticeship. A lively Q&A turned into a ten-minute brainstorm on how to keep human agency at the centre of every algorithm sparked by a question from a 91-year old lifelong learner in the audience.
This was followed by Infosys VP Navin Patel who initially posed the challenge: “Upskill 320,000 employees and you discover that ethics is a design constraint, not a slide deck.”. This was followed by an extremely interesting interactive session on ethics and AI.
The final session was a joint presentation from Innova-TSN and Begona Nunez-Herran, Director of Data and Student Analytics at the OU. This session covered AskOU, a deployed tool which supports OU teams in answering student email queries and how Innova-TSN are using AI to support recruitment internally.
Seeds of change
Every delegate left with a packet of wild-flower seeds courtesy of Mr Fothergill’s, a nod to Esther Spring’s session on digital wellbeing: “If we expect learners to step into the cloud, we must also invite them back to the soil.”
FAIESTA finale
The OU’s internal two-week “FAIESTA” programme, led by Mirjam Hauck and Eleanor Moore, popped up in the foyer, showcasing staff experiments in generative-AI course design, assessment rubrics and student-chatbots. Conference guests were invited to vote for the most “ethically playful” demo, crowning a team that used AI to transcribe and summarise 3-hour focus groups in under five minutes.
What next?
Initial discussions are already under way for MK Tech Week 2026, but the real takeaway is immediate: AI powered education will not be delivered by another app. It will be co-created by teachers, employers, councillors, as well as AI specialists, who together demand that technology enhances, rather than replaces, them.
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