Joella presents research on teachers and AI at Cambridge summit
Ella Walters 
CCAI researcher Joella Lynch presented the first phase of her PhD at the Cambridge AI and Education Summit, sharing her work on teachers, AI and professional judgement.
Cohort 1 researcher Joella Lynch attended the Cambridge AI and Education Summit on 15–16 October 2026, joining researchers, educators and policymakers to discuss the role of AI in education.
Joella presented Teachers, AI, and professional judgement: what AI use and non-use reveal about teaching. Her research considers what teachers’ decisions about AI can tell us about their work and the judgements they make.
Presenting gave Joella the opportunity to hear questions and feedback from people working in different disciplines. She said:
“Questions and conversations with people working across different disciplines helped me situate my work within the wider landscape of AI in education and reinforced the importance of ensuring teachers’ perspectives are heard as AI becomes more involved in education.”
The first day opened with Ann Kristin Glenster and Megan Ennion introducing their work towards a Learner Epistemic Rights Charter. Joella was particularly interested in the discussion about giving learners space to think, struggle, ask questions and not immediately know the answer.
Sessions on the human role in teaching and emotional intelligence offered further connections with her research. Neil D. Lawrence’s discussion of his book The Atomic Human also prompted reflection on the differences between human and artificial intelligence.
On the second day, Professor Johanna Pirker’s talk on gaming and education challenged some of Joella’s assumptions about gamification and how computer games can support learning.
A panel on collective intelligence explored how evidence and professional judgement from across sectors could inform the use of AI in education. Joella also valued hearing about Estonia’s approach to educational change and the importance of keeping teachers involved in that process.
The summit ended with a discussion of human flourishing as a purpose of education. This reflected a question Joella returned to throughout the event: what is education for, and how should that inform the ways AI is used?
Alongside the sessions, Joella met fellow researchers and people working in education, including Phil Noble from World Class Scholars and PhD researcher Cassie Martin.
Reflecting on the two days, she said:
“There are still so many open questions around AI in education. But I came away reassured that people across education, research, policy and technology are taking them seriously.”
Joella returned with new contacts and a clearer understanding of how her PhD fits into these discussions, bringing further questions and perspectives to the next stage of her research.
Joella Lynch