First Asian Woman President AI Education Society Ateneo
A teacher and researcher from the Philippines who works on creating, using, and testing artificial intelligence (AI) tools in Philippine schools has been chosen as president of the International Artificial Intelligence in Education (IAIED) Society. This worldwide group has more than 1,500 members in 40 countries. Its members study how computers, education, and psychology, or how people think and learn, can work together.
Dr. Maria Mercedes “Didith” T. Rodrigo from Ateneo de Manila University will serve as president of the IAIED Society from 2027 to 2029. She will bring together experts from top research universities around the world, including Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pennsylvania, University College London, and the University of Hong Kong. They will work on studying and creating AI-powered tools and learning spaces that help students, teachers, and schools.
Dr. Rodrigo's election gives the Philippines a stronger role in this international group. She is a professor in Ateneo's Department of Information Systems and Computer Science (DISCS). She also leads the university's Laboratory for the Learning Sciences and helps lead the Ateneo Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality Lab. Her research looks at how AI can help education, how information about student learning can be used to understand and improve it, and how games can help people learn.
An important part of Dr. Rodrigo's work is studying whether AI can help people fairly. She especially looks at how teachers, students, and schools in countries like the Philippines can benefit from these new technologies.
In 2024, Dr. Rodrigo and another researcher, May Marie P. Talandron-Felipe, worked with the Philippines' Second Congressional Commission on Education on a study. They interviewed 48 public-school teachers from different parts of the country. They found that teachers were excited about using AI. But many teachers did not know enough about it, did not have the right equipment, or had problems connecting to the internet.
The researchers said teachers need regular training, the right tools, and continued involvement in making decisions instead of leaving decisions entirely to AI. These steps are important for making AI helpful and available in classrooms that do not have many resources.
Dr. Rodrigo has been a member of the IAIED Society since 2007. She says the AI in education community has played an important role in her work and career. She sees becoming president as a chance to give something back to the group, which has given her many opportunities.
Dr. Rodrigo is the first Asian woman to become president of the IAIED Society. Her election is an important achievement for Ateneo de Manila University and the Philippines. It also shows that the Philippines is playing a bigger role in research and new developments involving artificial intelligence and education around the world.