Presentation Panel
Human-Centred AI: Empathy, Responsibility and Educational Transformation
Date Thursday, Dec 4 Time – Room: Schöneberg
What does it mean to put people at the heart of AI in education? This session explores human-centred approaches that balance empathy, responsibility, and transformation. From frameworks for business education to institution-wide strategies and hands-on learning design, the speakers will show how AI can support, not replace, human agency. Participants will discover practical ways to embed ethical principles, care, and meaningful engagement into AI-enhanced education, ensuring technology truly serves learners and communities.
Charlotte Von Essen
Pedagogical and Digital Development Lead, Stockholm School of Economics
Dr. Charlotte von Essen is the Pedagogical and Digital Development Lead at the Stockholm School of Economics, where she shapes the future of Business Education through strategic innovation in Faculty support, Edtech, and AI-enhanced pedagogy. With a background spanning Executive Education, Edtech leadership, and curriculum strategy, Charlotte brings a sharp, systems-level lens to how institutions can deliver education that is human-centred, intellectually rigorous, and technologically extended.
Dimitris Tolis
CEO & Lead Advisor, Human Asset (Technologies)
Anné Verhoef
Director of the NWU AI Hub and Professor in Philosophy, North-West University
Anné H. Verhoef is a professor in Philosophy and Director of the North-West University (NWU) AI Hub. He holds a PhD from the University of Stellenbosch and from the Free University in Amsterdam. His research interests are, amongst others, ethics, artificial intelligence and academic integrity, and the philosophy of happiness. He published various academic articles on academic integrity in Higher Education. He is the co-founder and former associate editor of the academic journal Transformation in Higher Education. He is also the co-founder of AICSA – the Artificial Intelligence Circle in South Africa for Higher Education.
Developing a Human-Centred AI Strategy for Universities, Anné Verhoef
At North-West University (NWU) in South Africa, we decided to follow a human-centred approach to AI to ensure that our journey towards an AI-enhanced world is humane, inclusive, ethical, and sustainable. The NWU AI strategy was framed into two complementary paradigms, namely soulful AI and Augmented intelligence, which emphasise that we should be careful to distance ourselves from AI, but rather that we should give AI a specific role to play in our lives that benefits us and not be overwhelmed or controlled by AI.
Learning That Frees: A Human-Centred Framework for Business Education in an Age of AI, Charlotte Von Essen
What does it mean to design Business Education that is truly human-centred in an age of AI? This session introduces the FREE framework from the Stockholm School of Economics, a model that blends philosophical depth with practical pedagogy to help institutions anchor innovation and AI implementation in empathy, ethics, and intellectual rigour.
Beyond the Hype: Agentic AI, the Learning Brain, and Human-Centric Engagement, Dimitris Tolis
AI is everywhere in learning conversations — but how do we move beyond the hype to make it truly useful? By combining neuroscience and Agentic AI, we can transform e-learning into human-centric experiences that motivate, adapt, and stick. The presentation will illustrate, with practical examples, how AI-powered content enables personalization, adaptive quizzing, instant feedback, and mentor-style interactions directly within SCORM/xAPI courses, and how gamified simulations with AI Avatars can create practice opportunities that strengthen both skills and confidence. Join us in exploring how AI can truly make learning smarter, more meaningful, and deeply human.