Dr. Liang at Web Summit: Redefining the Role of AI in Education
From November 10 to 13, 2025, the Web Summit, recognized as one of the leading technology events globally, took place at the MEO Arena in Lisbon, Portugal. The summit attracted over 70,000 technology professionals from 157 countries, alongside leaders from more than 2,700 startups, signifying its importance in the tech landscape.
Among the distinguished attendees was Dr. Joleen Liang, Co-founder of Squirrel Ai Learning, who participated in three pivotal forums, sharing the platform with notable figures such as Microsoft President Brad Smith, TIME CEO Jessica Sibley, and tennis icon Maria Sharapova. The discussions centered on emergent technology trends and the future of the industry, with a special focus on the intersection of human intelligence and artificial intelligence in education.
Highlighting Human Values in Education
In the forum titled “Human vs. Machine: Who Owns the Classroom of Tomorrow?”, Dr. Liang engaged in a dynamic conversation with influential figures, including João Rui Ferreira, Portugal's Secretary of State for Economy, and Marc Tawil, a prominent columnist for Exame, Brazil's foremost business publication. Dr. Liang emphasized that the primary role of artificial intelligence in education should not be to replace teachers but to liberate them from mundane tasks. This would enable educators to focus on aspects of teaching that machines cannot replicate: inspiration, empathy, and creativity.
Dr. Liang articulated the vision of Squirrel Ai's multimodal intelligent adaptive learning system as a practical embodiment of this philosophy. The system leverages advanced cognitive diagnostics, an intricate knowledge graph, and error-cause analysis to provide real-time insights into student learning states. It facilitates the creation of personalized learning trajectories, allowing educators to dedicate more time to individualized instruction and the development of higher-order thinking skills alongside character education.
“Education is fundamentally a profound interaction between people. The ultimate goal of technology is to enhance, not diminish, that experience,” Dr. Liang stated. “We aim for a collaborative relationship between humans and machines, fostering a learning atmosphere that is both supportive and centered around human values.”
A Vision for the Future Classroom
During her remarks, Dr. Liang explored the rapidly evolving global educational technology sector, arguing that real innovation stems from utilizing technology to propel a fundamental shift towards learner-centered education. She stressed that true educational innovation isn't merely about market expansion; it is about achieving personalized learning at scale and ensuring educational equity—principles rooted in actionable, dynamic learning data.
Building on the experience of Squirrel Ai, which has served over 43 million students and analyzed in excess of 20 billion learning behaviors, Dr. Liang explained how the model perceives student challenges and strengths in real-time. This dynamic adjustment to learning paths goes beyond efficiency in knowledge transfer; it seeks to understand why a learner encounters specific obstacles and how to provide timely, effective support.
She posited that the classroom of the future is set to break physical and temporal constraints, evolving into a limitless, data-driven environment nurtured by human-centered values.
Dr. Liang’s participation in the Web Summit underscored Squirrel Ai’s emergence as a key innovator within the educational technology space, introducing an intelligent educational framework that comprehensively understands student needs and empowers educators in decision-making processes. In environments facilitated by Squirrel Ai, teachers transition from being mere knowledge transmitters to becoming architects and facilitators of the learning journey, aided by AI that offers personalized support and refines instructional strategies continuously.
Setting New Benchmarks in Education
At a time when technology and educational philosophies are increasingly converging, Squirrel Ai’s established methodologies have started setting crucial benchmarks for the entire industry. Their approach illustrates that when technology is effectively aligned with the essence of education, it can effectively transcend resource and geographical limitations, thereby enabling numerous students to access tailored learning experiences.
The learner-centered, technology-enabled paradigm articulated by Dr. Liang is driving a continuous enhancement in global education, making a more personalized and equitable future not just a possibility, but an attainable reality. This transformational vision promises to reshape the educational landscape significantly, heralding a new era of collaborative human-AI engagement in learning, where the focus is on fostering creativity, empathy, and personal growth alongside academic achievement.