What is Worth Learning in the Age of Al? Bringing Values Back into Education

**What Is Worth Learning in the Age of AI? Bringing Values Back into Education, with Beth Zemble and Ariadna Trapote** As AI becomes increasingly capable of providing knowledge, solving problems, and even making decisions, education faces a more fundamental question: What do children need to learn to remain thoughtful, responsible human beings in an AI-driven world? While schools have understandably prioritized academic skills such as reading and math, less attention has been given to the values, virtues, civic dispositions, and ethical judgment that shape how students use what they know. At the same time, interest in character, flourishing, and human formation is growing in higher education. What if we began much earlier? This episode will explore why values education matters more, not less, in the age of AI, and how it might become part of everyday learning without prescribing one culture's answer to "whose values?" We will discuss the role of stories and dilemmas in helping children practice moral reasoning; what we can learn from values that appear across cultures; why character develops through repeated practice rather than one-time lessons; and how technology can make these experiences accessible at scale. We will share what we are learning through ValuesLab, where curriculum, stories, and an interactive app create a spiral learning experience in which children repeatedly encounter values, apply them to new situations, and reflect on the decisions they make. Ultimately, the conversation asks whether preparing children for an AI world requires us to think beyond what they know and can do to how they decide what they should do. **Readings and Resources**: - **OECD & European Commission** — Empowering Learners for the Age of AI: An AI Literacy Framework for Primary and Secondary Education (2026). A framework that positions responsible and ethical decision-making as part of AI literacy for young people. - **Human Flourishing Program at Harvard** — Education for Flourishing. Explores education as not only cognitive development, but also formation, character development, and human flourishing. - **UNESCO —** Guidance for Generative AI in Education and Research. Useful background for the broader argument that AI education needs to remain human-centered and protect human agency. - **Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues & Oxford Character Project** —A new generation of wise thinkers & good leaders. A framework for thinking about character formation as part of the mission of universities. **Episode Guests** **Beth Zemble** is the co-founder and Chief Learning Officer of ValuesLab, where she leads the development of its character education framework and curriculum. An experienced educator and curriculum designer, Beth has developed award-winning international education programs and learning experiences. Her work at ValuesLab focuses on how children learn, practice, and internalize values through stories, discussion, reflection, and real-world decision-making, and how those experiences can be designed to work across cultures and at scale. **Ariadna Trapote** is the co-founder and CEO of ValuesLab, an education technology company focused on making character development universally accessible. An actuary by training and an EdTech entrepreneur, she previously founded Little Bookmates and later built a global reading initiative that has reached children across dozens of countries. Today, she leads ValuesLab’s work at the intersection of character education, technology, and AI, exploring how children learn and apply human values when making decisions.   Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org