Two Days Exploring AI in Education, at the Heart of the Ocean

SCAI was delighted to lead a two-day training workshop dedicated to artificial intelligence in education with the teaching staff of the Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls-sur-Mer.
This exceptional site is one of the three marine campuses of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Sorbonne University, providing an inspiring setting to reflect on the integration of AI into teaching and learning practices.

Day 1 – AI & Education: Understanding and Experimenting
Led by Marco Salazar (Head of training SCAI-Education), Julie Benhaïm (Instructional Designer - CAPSULE), and Nirina Andriamanantenasoa (Head of Pedagogy Unit – CAPSULE).

The first day focused on the fundamentals of AI and generative AI, with particular attention to their pedagogical implications. Participants had the opportunity to:

• Explore key concepts of artificial intelligence and generative AI,
• Discuss the impacts, challenges, and questions raised by the use of AI in educational contexts,
• Get hands-on with prompt engineering, through practical exercises using various AI tools,
• Begin collective reflections on AI usage guidelines, aimed at identifying relevant, transparent, and responsible uses within courses.

This initial day helped establish a shared foundation, combining conceptual understanding with practical experimentation.

Day 2 – Opening the Black Box: How Does It Work?
Led by Baptiste Gregorutti (Head of Data Science - SCAI)

The second day took a more technical approach, with a clear objective: to understand how AI models work—without writing code. The program included:

• An introduction to how text generation models operate,
• An exploration of image generation models,
• Hands-on activities designed to better grasp the internal logic, limitations, and biases of these models.

This session enabled participants to move beyond a “black box” perspective and develop a deeper understanding of the technologies they may use, teach with, or critically assess.

A Common Thread: Building AI Literacy
Across both days, the guiding principle was the development of AI literacy:
progressively moving from concepts to technical understanding, learning through experimentation, and fostering a critical mindset—essential for the thoughtful and responsible integration of AI into academic environments.

These two days were marked by rich discussions, numerous questions, shared experiences, and a strong collective dynamic. Warm thanks to all participants and to the facilitators for the high quality of their contributions and engagement.