Embedded Ethics in the Sphere of Education: The Case of the Dutch National Education Lab AI (NOLAI)

Guest talk with Marthe Stevens, Assistant Professor Digitalization and Society, Leader Ethics Team at NOLAI, Radboud University, the Netherlands

June 5, 2025

The Dutch National Education Lab AI (NOLAI) is a ten-year initiative funded by the Dutch government that seeks to enhance primary and secondary education in the Netherlands through the development of AI technologies tailored specifically for the educational sector (NOLAI, 2023). Within this initiative, the ethics team plays a central role in identifying, anticipating, and addressing ethical issues related to AI development, while supporting stakeholders across the educational landscape.

The work of the ethics team is informed by embedded ethics approaches developed in other domains, particularly computer science education and healthcare. In this presentation, Prof. Stevens will reflect on the applicability and translation of embedded ethics approaches to the field of education. She will also introduce the theoretical framework of sphere transgressions, which is used within NOLAI as a foundation for normative analyses. This framework enables critical assessment of whether core educational values risk being displaced by (digital) values that accompany AI.

Embedded Ethics in the Sphere of Education: The Case of the Dutch National Education Lab AI (NOLAI)
Guest talk with Marthe Stevens, Assistant Professor Digitalization and Society, Leader Ethics Team at NOLAI, Radboud University, the Netherlands

Time: 05.06.2025, 12.00 – 13.30
Location: Marsstr. 20, Room 604

Speaker Biography

Marthe Stevens is Assistant Professor at the Interdisciplinary Hub on Digitalization and Society (iHub) and is affiliated with the Department of Ethics and Political Philosophy at Radboud University, the Netherlands. Her research examines the ethical and societal impacts of emerging technological innovations, particularly in education and healthcare. Specializing in embedded ethics, she integrates ethical analysis into innovation processes, drawing on insights from the Philosophy of Technology, Science and Technology Studies, and Critical Data Studies. In 2024, Marthe’s research was recognized with the ‘Early Career Award’ from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).