How we help
Education programmes after which students use AI and the decision stays with them
The AI Business Center Foundation (AIBC) is a think tank and advisory partner that helps the boards of construction, industrial and technical-services companies adopt artificial intelligence so that it delivers measurable results and builds competitive advantage. As part of our statutory activities we also support schools and the authorities that run them, because the skills companies will need tomorrow are formed in the classroom today.
Access to AI is no longer the school’s challenge. A student’s own thinking is
A student today has a model at hand that will write an essay, solve a problem and propose an answer in a few seconds. Schools no longer need to teach how to reach it. They need to teach how to work with it so that thinking, judgement and the decision stay with the person.
A study published in Frontiers in Psychology in July 2026 (Zhu et al., 589 students and young professionals, three measurements over time) distinguishes two ways of using generative AI. When the model takes over most of the thinking, users more often hand decisions over to it and have lower intrinsic motivation. When the model is a support and control stays with the person, this is associated with higher motivation. Both ways bring a similar immediate benefit, so the difference is hard to notice without deliberate learning. The study relies on participants’ self-assessment and shows associations, not causes.
The decision belongs to the person. That rule is learned at school
In the companies we work with, a simple rule applies: the model prepares, the person checks and decides. The same rule should be the starting point of education. The programmes we co-create develop four skills:
- question before answer: the student first names the problem and only then reaches for the tool;
- verification: checks sources, facts and calculations before accepting the model’s answer;
- decision: knows when to accept an answer, when to correct it and when to reject it, and takes responsibility for that choice;
- ownership of thought: can reach their own solution and compare it with the model’s proposal instead of taking it as the default.
This direction is consistent with the AI literacy framework for primary and secondary schools that the European Commission presented together with the OECD on 18 June 2026. The framework describes four areas: engaging with AI, creating with AI, managing AI and shaping AI. It is also meant to be a reference point for the first PISA assessment of media and AI literacy, planned for 2029.
How we support schools
Co-creating programmes. We co-create programmes and pathways that develop AI literacy within existing subjects and classes. We do not add a separate “AI” subject; we show how to teach working with a model across subjects, including vocational ones, and in projects.
Training for teaching staff. Workshops for teachers and school leaders: how a language model works and why it makes mistakes, how to design tasks that cannot simply be “handed over” to a model, how to assess the work of a student who used AI, and how to talk about it with parents.
School rules for working with AI. We help set out rules for how students and teachers use AI: what the tools may be used for, how to label it, which data never goes into public tools and who approves new uses. The legal scope in a particular school is set by its legal adviser and data protection officer.
AI Free Day at school. We share lesson plans and a simple format for a one-day experiment that any school can run on its own (more below).
Closest to our statutory objectives are technical and vocational schools and universities that train the future workforce of construction and industry. Here we connect the programme with real tasks from companies’ practice. We work with school authorities and local governments when a programme is to cover a network of schools.
Schools use AI too
A school that uses AI systems in its work may be a deployer within the meaning of the AI Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 as amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (the AI Omnibus). Article 4 then applies to it: supporting the development of AI literacy of its staff. The provision does not prescribe the form of that support.
Education and vocational training is one of the areas in which the regulation lists high-risk systems (Annex III), for example in admission, assessing learning outcomes and monitoring exams. The obligations for these systems apply from 2 December 2027. Since 2 February 2025, emotion recognition using AI has been prohibited in educational institutions, except for medical and safety reasons. We do not decide borderline cases: the scope of obligations in a particular school is set by its legal adviser.
AI Free Day: your own thinking first, then AI
The AI Business Center Foundation is the originator and initiator of AI Free Day (opens in a new window) and its organiser. It is an annual international day held on 24 November. The first edition takes place in 2026.
There is one rule: for 24 hours, from midnight to midnight local time, we put generative AI aside. This means chatbots and AI assistants, generators of text, images, sound, video and code, and the “write” and “summarise” functions in email, office software and phones. Search engines, maps, dictionaries, spell checkers, calculators and accessibility technologies stay. Anyone who cannot give up AI at work chooses the task version: they start one important task, meeting or decision with their own thinking.
The experiment has three steps:
- Notice the moment: write down the task for which you reach for AI.
- Name the expectation: what you need from the tool, information, a second opinion, a ready answer or help in naming the problem.
- Compare the next day: on 25 November, do the same task with AI and set the model’s answer against your own reasoning.
For schools and universities we have prepared eight lesson topics, including “Question before answer”, “Check before you believe”, “Who decides?” and “Tomorrow we compare”. Work created without generative AI can be marked with the “designed by a HUMAN” sign. Taking part in AI Free Day is open and requires no registration. Materials and rules are at aifreeday.com (opens in a new window).
AI Free Day is not a campaign against artificial intelligence. It is the same rule we apply in companies: AI supports thinking but does not replace it, and judging the answer and the final choice stay with the person.
Who does what
| role | who | responsible for |
|---|---|---|
| decision and goal | school head or school authority | scope of the programme, schedule, inclusion in the school plan |
| delivery | teachers and form tutors | running classes, adapting to classes and subjects |
| method and materials | AI Business Center Foundation | programme, lesson plans, training, model school rules for working with AI |
| approval of rules | legal adviser, data protection officer | consent to the scope of data and tools |
| funding | Foundation Patrons, institutional partners, public funds | scope and number of schools covered |
The programme grows thanks to Foundation Patrons
Education is part of the Foundation’s statutory activities, not a commercial service. Its reach depends on funding: the number of schools and the scope of the programme in a given year are set by funds from Foundation Patrons, institutional partners and public programmes. That is why we do not promise full support to every school that applies. Instead, we help match the scope to the available means and the source of funding.
Companies that want to influence the skills of their future employees can become Foundation Patrons. Supporting the programme for technical and vocational schools in the company’s region is an investment in the construction and industrial workforce and a concrete social action that the company can describe in its ESG reporting. We invite universities, local governments and education organisations to cooperate as institutional partners.
Frequently asked questions
Does a school pay to take part in the programme?
It depends on the source of funding. The education programme is part of the Foundation's statutory activities, funded by Foundation Patrons, institutional partners and public funds. We agree the scope of support for a particular school or network of schools in conversation, together with whoever funds it. AI Free Day and the lesson materials are open to all schools.
Is AI Free Day a campaign against artificial intelligence?
No. AI Free Day is a deliberate break and a simple experiment. For one day, students and teachers notice when they reach for AI out of habit, and the next day they compare their own solution with the model's answer. The aim is more conscious use of AI, not giving it up.
Do you teach how to use specific AI tools?
We do not build programmes around a single tool or vendor. The Foundation is vendor-neutral. We teach principles that work with any tool: how to frame a question, how to check an answer, when not to accept it and who makes the decision.
How can a company support the Foundation's education programme?
As a Foundation Patron: by funding the programme for selected schools, most often technical and vocational schools in the company's region, or by providing experts and real tasks from practice. We agree the terms of cooperation, the scope and how the support is communicated individually.
Let’s start with a conversation
Write to us if you run a school, are responsible for education in a local government or want to support the programme as a Foundation Patron. Let’s start with a conversation.