I Jornada académica sobre Educación Superior Revolución Educativa 4.0: Forjando el Nuevo Paradigma Académico en la Era de la Inteligencia Artificial

Higher education faces a historic opportunity to reinvent itself. As UNESCO points out, Artificial Intelligence “has the potential to address some of the challenges facing current education, innovate teaching and learning practices, and advance the achievement of SDG 4.” However, this transformation is not without challenges, from teacher training to ethical considerations regarding the use of data.

There are numerous challenges and transformations in the current higher education landscape, including discussions about private vs. public education, whether universities meet the labor market’s needs, both in undergraduate and postgraduate training, and whether our young people are aware of the need to maintain a culture of hard work to achieve their goals in a competitive world that, since the arrival of AI, will clearly change its rules, needs, and requirements.

The Royal European Academy of Doctors is privileged to present the 1st Academic Conference on Higher Education, an event that we will continue to organize periodically, aimed at exploring the future of education in the era of Artificial Intelligence. This initiative seeks not only to analyze emerging challenges but also to identify the weaknesses and opportunities that will allow us to evolve toward a more adaptive, efficient, and humanistic educational model.

It is clear that education is at a historic crossroads. On the one hand, emerging technologies promise to revolutionize teaching and learning methods, offering unprecedented possibilities for educational personalization while also presenting situations for both teachers and students that were completely unthinkable just five years ago. On the other hand, we face significant challenges related to institutional adaptation, teacher training, and the ethical considerations that these technological advances raise.

As an institution committed to “research, study, promotion, and dissemination of knowledge in its broadest sense,” the RAED seeks to lead the reflection on this transformative phenomenon because we must not forget that education is a fundamental pillar in the democratic development of peoples. Both undergraduate and graduate education require knowledge, leadership skills, and resilience to, among other things, combat the bureaucracy that stifles creativity, which is one of the main factors that characterizes higher education and which is constrained by this conditioning factor.

Our century-old legacy and our multidisciplinary composition position us ideally to articulate a constructive dialogue between the various actors in the educational ecosystem, from universities to business schools, from public institutions to private initiatives. We will do this gradually in various sessions, addressing topics that will address this issue from the multifaceted perspective that characterizes our institution, in Barcelona, ​​Madrid, and the Canary Islands, through our close collaboration with the Lanzarote Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Humanities.

To address this topic, we have assembled a group of top-level speakers for this first time, whose complementary perspectives will allow us to gain a holistic and well-founded view of the challenges and opportunities we face:

16.45 h: Dr. Alfredo Rocafort. President of the RAED. Presentation of the Conference.

17.00 h: Dr. Jordi Martí Pidelaserra: “Universidad e Inteligencia Artificial: Retos y Perspectivas”

Dr. Martí will offer his valuable insights into the integration of AI in the university sphere. His talk, “La inteligencia artificial y la estupidez natural”, delivered before the Academia de Ciencias, Ingenierías y Humanidades de Lanzarote, demonstrated his deep understanding of the complexities of this new paradigm. His analysis will combine academic rigor with his characteristically engaging style and a practical vision of how universities can adopt and adapt to this technological revolution.

17.30 h: Dr. Cecilia Kindelán Amorrich: “¿Cómo preparar a los alumnos de hoy para incorporarse a trabajos que aún no existen?”

Dr. Kindelán, an academic of our institution with an outstanding national and international career in executive education, will offer a privileged view of how Spanish business schools are leading the integration of new technologies in postgraduate education. Her experience as a professor at prestigious institutions such as the University of Barcelona, the International University of La Rioja, and ESIC University & Business School, where she currently serves as National Director of the EXECUTIVE MBA programs and senior executive education, as well as her former role as Associate Director and Director of International Relations at the IESE Business School MBA, make her a highly authoritative voice in analyzing best practices in executive education and its future projection.

18.00 h: Dr. José Ramón Calvo Fernández: “Cuando la Burocracia Asfixia la Creatividad en la Educación”

Dr. Calvo, President of the Instituto de Cooperación Internacional of our institution, will address one of the most significant barriers to educational innovation: excessive bureaucracy. His powerful statement “La burocracia mata la creatividad” (Bureaucracy kills creativity) resonates strongly in a context where agility and adaptability are crucial. His talk will explore how academic institutions are bound by absurd situations—not limited to the educational sphere but particularly impactful there—that prevent them from allocating their best resources to their core mission: fostering truly creative and innovative environments, aligned with the demands of a constantly changing world.

18:30 h a 19:15 h: Break

19.15 h: Dr. G. Devin Stephenson joins the RAED as a Corresponding Member: “Reinventando el Futuro de la Educación Superior”

The Hon. Mr. Dr. G. Devin Stephenson, Doctor in Business Administration, will be inducted as a Corresponding Member of the Royal European Academy of Doctors, with the speech “Reinventando el Futuro de la Educación Superior” (Reinventing the Future of Higher Education).

Response by: Dr. José Ramón Calvo Fernández, Doctor of Medicine and Surgery.

To close this academic session, we will be joined by our guest of honor, Dr. G. Devin Stephenson, President of Florida Polytechnic University. Leading this STEM-focused institution, which maintains strong collaborations with the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Dr. Stephenson will share a unique perspective on academic leadership in technologically advanced institutions. His vision for guiding universities through an ongoing digital transformation will be especially valuable to our academic community.

Additionally, taking advantage of his presence among us, Dr. Stephenson will be appointed Corresponding Academician of our institution. This session will therefore allow us to explore the convergence of three fundamental dimensions for the future of education:

• Technological innovation, represented by the integration of Artificial Intelligence into educational processes—from personalized learning to skills assessment.
• Pedagogical transformation, expressed in the necessary evolution of teaching roles, instructional methods, and assessment systems in light of new tools.
• The humanistic perspective, which places the person at the center of all educational innovation, ensuring that technology enhances rather than replaces the human dimension of education.

The RAED, true to its mission of “contributing to cultural, scientific, economic, and social development,” aims to lead this debate, providing academic rigor, multidisciplinary perspective, and a forward-looking vision. Our event aspires to be not only a space for reflection but also a catalyst for concrete initiatives that will drive the evolution of our educational institutions.

As Dr. Jordi Martí states, we must understand that the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence are a complement, not a substitute, for human intelligence. It is precisely in this balance that we find the key to building an educational model that, while harnessing the potential of technology, continues to cultivate the most valuable elements of our academic tradition: critical thinking, creativity, and a commitment to knowledge as the engine of human progress. The education of the future is being shaped today, and the RAED wants to play an active role in this process, contributing our capacity, experience, and public service vocation.