AI with a Human Face: Reimagining Education for Gen Z and Gen ALPHA. Living Dialogue between Disciplines, Voices, and Visions

Abstract:

This interdisciplinary review explores how artificial intelligence (AI) can transform education for Generations Z and Alpha without eroding its human core. Drawing on historical, philosophical, and policy perspectives, the article frames AI as both mirror and lamp: it mirrors existing pedagogical shortcomings while illuminating new possibilities for dialogic, relational learning.

Part I examines teacher-learner interaction through the lens of humanistic and bilingual pedagogy (CLIL+IA, Intelligenza Artificiale in Italian). It argues that meaningful education depends on presence, empathy, and shared agency. Revisiting Enlightenment and modern pedagogical traditions, from Locke and Wollstonecraft to Dewey, it highlights the enduring importance of conversation and reciprocity in the learning process.

Part II extends this analysis to the systemic, policy, and technological dimensions of human-centred AI in education. Through a critical synthesis of global frameworks from UNESCO, OECD, and the World Economic Forum, as well as a case study of Italy’s Multiversity S.p.A., it explores tensions between corporate automation and the ethical goals of humanistic learning. The findings suggest that AI’s educational value lies not in efficiency or replication, but in its capacity to revive democratic dialogue, intercultural understanding, and creative thinking.

The article concludes that human-centred AI must rest on ethical governance, equitable access, and pedagogical courage. These principles can help teachers and learners rediscover what it means to learn and teach humanly in an algorithmic age.

Keywords:

AI in Education; Dialogic Pedagogy; Digital Humanism; Educational Policy; Gen Alpha; Gen Z; Human-Centred Learning; Postcolonial Critique of AI; Systemic Innovation.

Citation: Gloria Alpini and Nayan Deep Singh Kanwal (2025). AI with a Human Face: Reimagining Education for Gen Z and Gen ALPHA. Living Dialogue between Disciplines, Voices, and Visions. Horizon J. Hum. Soc. Sci. Res. 7 (2), 198–209. https://doi.org/10.37534/bp.jhssr.2025.v7.n2.id1331.p198