Artificial Intelligence and Education: This is how the UC International Education Summit 2026 went

With 598 in-person attendees and 1.483 connections via YouTube, the meeting held on January 14 at the Alameda UC Extension Center brought together national and international experts to analyze opportunities, risks and challenges of artificial intelligence in school and higher education.

The goal was to exchange experiences among administrators, teachers, and education specialists. UC International Education Summit 2026 Held on January 14th at the Alameda UC Extension Center, the event brought together hundreds of participants for conversations with national and international guests. A total of 598 people attended in person, and 1.483 followed the activities via the live YouTube stream.

Through the XV Conference on School Management and Leadership y XXII Conference on Higher Education Management The latest trends and innovations in management and leadership in school and higher education were addressed. This year's theme was a key issue that marks a turning point: "Artificial Intelligence in Education: New Frontiers in Teaching and Learning."

That was the motto under which the meeting was organized, and that is because “being at the forefront of educational issues is a duty,” he explains. Daniela Véliz, academic and vice dean of the Faculty of Education UC and academic director of the Higher Education conference. “Today, artificial intelligence challenges us in terms of teaching and training for those of us who teach. Clearly, we don't have many answers, but the Summit helps us share best practices.” 

The Summit, the vice dean explains, helped clarify that artificial intelligence is still under development, and that “no one has all the answers. Institutions are testing what works and what doesn't. There's a lot of learning to do.” It is important to acknowledge that there are certain functions that cannot be replaced by AI. “Not everything is replaceable. That's another lesson we learned from our international guests,” she mentions. Among the international speakers were, for example, Mariana Maggio, Dan Levy, José Escamilla de los Santos, Jiafang Lu and Ezequiel Molina, among others.

Leadership in the Age of AI

Expectations surrounding the opportunities that AI will bring are high. How can school leadership influence and enhance the opportunities of the educational age with artificial intelligence? That was a central question, he explains. Paulo Volante, UC Education academic and academic director of the School Management and Leadership conferences. 

“Will artificial intelligence be an opportunity to reduce the bureaucratic burden, the time spent on administrative tasks, and the accountability processes that inhibit direct influence on teaching and learning?” Volante asks. She explains that there are high expectations that principals and school leaders can leverage this tool to gather information, synthesize data, and expedite decision-making. “Artificial intelligence is seen as a tool that streamlines and focuses school leadership on teaching and learning,” she emphasizes.

During the sessions, conversations took place about how AI tools allow students to focus on increasingly specific skills, with an emphasis on feedback or opportunities for students to develop projects or social engagement initiatives that transcend the limits of the classroom and the school, connecting with students from the region, the country and the world. 

“Another conversation focused on innovation itself, and to what extent AI allows us to do things very differently, or contributes to incremental improvement. Will artificial intelligence be an opportunity to develop the expertise of school leadership? Will we have school leaders with more agile responses, more accurate decisions, and deeper management skills that channel creativity, information, and responsiveness to the broad demands faced by school principals?” asks Paulo Volante. 

One thing is clear. Universities and higher education institutions, says Daniela Véliz, “must invest in developing and training their staff and personnel at all levels to keep up with what students are doing today with artificial intelligence. It’s not just about having a dedicated department, but also about having the capacity within the institutions to leverage this tool,” concludes the vice dean. Along the same lines, the emphasis of the UC International Education Summit 2026 was not only on the opportunities that technology opens up, but also on the need to safeguard a people-centered education.