Kallas: Estonia's true leap is learning to think with artificial intelligence

TALLINN – Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas spoke at the Tallinn Digital Summit on Thursday, where she introduced Estonia's "AI Leap" initiative and invited nations worldwide to join Estonia in learning how to use artificial intelligence in a human-centric way that supports education.

The minister highlighted that the rapid development of AI has presented humanity with a new evolutionary pressure. "For society to advance, we need to be able to think faster, more systematically, and more creatively—at a higher cognitive level," Kallas said, stressing that Estonia does not have all the answers.

"Nevertheless, we want to be among the first in the world to experiment, where teachers, researchers, and technology companies collaborate to learn and test how to best leverage artificial intelligence for education," the minister added.

Kallas outlined the "AI Leap" program, which aims to cultivate the skill of thinking with machines, rather than letting machines think for us. The program is centered on teachers' digital competence, students' AI literacy, and the research-based monitoring of how using AI tools affects learning and thinking.

The minister concluded her speech with a powerful message: "If we can raise a generation that uses artificial intelligence to expand thinking, not replace it, that will be our true leap forward."