From October 24 to 30, the NGO Fundació Catalunya Voluntària hosted the international seminar ‘The Power of Human Intelligence’ in Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona). This learning mobility program, supported by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ program, brought together 20 adults from North Macedonia, Turkey, Croatia, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Spain, and Germany, representing eleven non-profit and non-governmental organizations and an informal group of young people, partners of the FCV.
The seminar’s objectives were to gain a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of intensive AI use in working with young people, while also highlighting the value of human intelligence in order to promote a responsible and humane use of AI.
This means not abandoning the capabilities of human intelligence (including empathy, intuition, imagination, adaptability, etc.) but rather recognizing the significant qualitative difference that comes with using a type of intelligence that, despite its limitations, surpasses AI in many aspects and tasks yet.
Over five days, we conducted workshops, case studies, discussions, presentations, exercises, games, and individual and group activities to explore this complex topic, about which perceptions vary widely. We also familiarized ourselves with some of the most commonly used AI technologies, which we then incorporated into the activities.
The sessions have been dedicated to exploring the different types of AI, analyzing their risks and benefits, and discussing the responsibilities arising from AI use. However, we haven’t forgotten the set of experiences, attitudes, and skills that make us more or less intelligent and, therefore, more capable of using AI in a way that benefits the greatest number of people (and not just a select few).
In fact, some of the highlights included the collaborative creation of a guide for combining human and artificial intelligence when working with young people. This guide is the result of the commitment, contributions, and ideas of the entire group.
It is an innovative and -quality resource that we hope to share very soon with all those individuals and organizations that wish to access, created with the aim of being a practical tool that helps us to use AI more and better, but without diminishing, but rather increasing, the capabilities that define us as an ‘intelligent’ specie.
Other highlights included lunch in an urban harvest (salad, paella, and chestnuts) on Sunday, and the group development of new joint mobility initiatives for young people and youth workers, which we hope will take place next year.
For more information about this activity and its results, please email projectes@catalunyavoluntaria.cat
