Students take centre stage in Ital.IA Lab workshops: from the conscious use of AI to songwriting
A day of discovery, between awareness and creativity: this is what the students of the Michelangelo Buonarroti high school in Frascati and the Maria Montessori high school in Rome experienced on 18th March, when they took part in the free workshops of Ital.IA Lab, a project created with Microsoft.
In the Robotic Lab of the Palestra dell'Innovazione in Rome, the musical notes generated by artificial intelligence were the background, but the critical confrontation was at the centre of the experience. Trainer Renato Beraldini guided the students through a stimulating and thought-provoking journey, introducing them to the main applications of artificial intelligence and the models currently available.
‘I introduced the students to artificial intelligence applications by explaining the difference between the various models and giving a bit of history. However, I wanted to make it clear that everything about AI is still under construction. It is a technology that evolves daily, and is the subject of an ongoing debate within the scientific community. I interacted with the students to understand what they really knew about the uses of AI and I guided them through the discovery of the variety of applications, from the visual arts to marketing and even teaching. It was important to inform them about support for learning for people with disabilities, such as the use of text to speech for the blind. But all teaching, after all, can benefit from AI. For example, today's technology allows us to learn languages based on each student's starting level. During the training, I listed the risks of artificial intelligence and encouraged discussion with the students, answering their questions. I also explained some principles of prompting and set a final challenge. They had to create a song about the risks of artificial intelligence using Copilot. The students wrote a text based on key concepts assigned to them and then used the suno.com website, which generates songs from natural language descriptions. Finally, they completed the work with a graphic cover.
The results of the workshop were surprising: the songs created use contemporary language and pop accents to talk about the main fears associated with AI, such as the risk of dehumanisation, loss of control and emotional distance. The feedback from students and teachers was positive and engaging: enthusiasm for the expressive potential of the technology, but also attention to the ethical and cultural implications.
Teachers Marta Chirico and Maria Paola Farina from Buonarroti emphasised the value of introducing artificial intelligence to young people who will soon be entering the world of work. Giordano, a student in class 3C, expressed amazement at the new applications discovered, while his classmate Leonardo said he had acquired a ‘broader and more conscious’ vision, thanks also to learning prompting techniques. Leonardo, 17, a Montessori student, also shared his inspiration for the future: he dreams of working in computer science, exploring the role of AI in simplifying human work and promoting scientific progress.
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Free workshops on generative artificial intelligence
These take place at the Palestra dell'Innovazione in Rome and last about three hours. They offer students an engaging learning experience, combining theory with practical sessions, to approach new technologies in a conscious and critical way. During the course, participants have the opportunity to:
- discover the potential of artificial intelligence in everyday life, study and work;
- learn the practical and responsible use of generative AI tools;
- understand how AI is transforming the world and opening up new perspectives in study and career paths;
- develop a critical awareness of the use of advanced technologies;
- experimenting first-hand with innovative tools based on generative AI.
The workshop pays particular attention to the conscious use of technology, with the aim of transforming students from simple passive users to active and reflective protagonists of digital change.
Interviews by Onelia Onorati, press office of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale
