Towards Trustworthy AI in Inclusive Education: A Co-Creation Approach Rooted in Ecological Frameworks

Author

Valeria Cesaroni and Martina Galletti and Eleonora Pasqua and Daniele Nardi

Abstract

The integration of digital technology and AI systems has prompted extensive inquiries into their ethical design and im-plementation. Trustworthy AI, essential for fairness, robustness, safety, and transparency, is recognized as fundamental,transcending pure technological interaction. This is particularly pivotal in contexts involving minors, and especially withintechnologies fostering inclusion for students with disabilities and special educational needs (SEND). Inclusive education hingeson trustworthiness due to inherent asymmetries in learning structures and the relational aspect of educational environments.This paper starting from a case studies, i.e. an AI interface tailored to children with text comprehension difficulties, itintroduces a co-creation strategy with different stakeholders. It develops an ecological framework for trustworthiness, rootedin value-sensitive design. Our approach emphasizes ethical and trustworthy AI development, prioritizing responsibility,reliability, and inclusivity. It addresses the concept of trustworthiness as a systemic relationship between multiple contexts(such as clinical and school environments) in the development of children’s proximal processes and scaffolding, as outlinedby Bronfenbrenner’s system ecological theory