TWIN-TECH – Twin Transition for VET Resilience
Project number: 2025-1-SI01-KA220-VET-000360870
Program: Erasmus+ KA220-VET
Project website: twin-tech.eu
First of all, AI is already there in our everyday work, and, apart from making many headlines, most of them are quite unpleasant, in an everyday, non-academic sense. So, AI can write reports for us, sort out information, determine faults, compare measurements and even propose solutions to problems. We all use it in our work and most of us already have used it. So, the big question is not when we will use AI, but whether we will use it correctly and when it is appropriate to do so and when not.
A very different skill from programming an AI system.
To give an example: A mechanic can work with diagnostic software without knowing how it was created. Likewise, a technician does not have to be a computer science expert in order to work with an automated inspection tool. But in both cases it is important to understand what the system is capable of, what data it works with and where there could be a problem. That it gives a confident answer, does not necessarily mean it is correct.
The research also shows that many jobs are not wholly threatened by automation but rather individual tasks within a role. It is the International Labour Organization (ILO) that reports that about one quarter of all workers worldwide are already using generative AI in their work.
Digital literacy goes beyond basic knowledge of computers and software. It is also important for workers to be able to check the results provided by generative AI, to protect personal data and other confidential information, to recognize weak or misleading information and to decide when human judgment is more important than machine-generated results.
Article 4 of the EU AI Act now requires providers and users of AI systems in organizations to support workers’ use of those systems by promoting AI literacy. Training need not be provided at the same level for all employees; rather it must be appropriate to their role and work experience and tailored to the specific use of the technology in their workplace. Provision of AI literacy is required from February 2025 and will be subject to supervision and enforcement from 2026 onwards.
For VET basic understanding of AI cannot be restricted to IT courses for specialists only.
Regarding necessary competencies on the vocational level the identified areas relate to data literacy including responsible use of AI tools up to EQF level 4, while more complex technical issues are being assigned to EQF levels above 4 within the framework of the TWIN-TECH project.
The distinction between basic and advanced AI skills is crucial. While future generations of electricians, machine operators or logistics staff will need to use AI tools in their work, this does not necessarily mean that they have to be specialists in the field of AI. Furthermore, they need to know when a tool is not functioning properly.
Cooperation within Europe also has a practical face. Within the framework of Erasmus+ projects such as TWIN-TECH enable vocational education and training, enterprises as well as initial and continued training institutions and companies from different countries to test how in different countries new work place skills can be learned and need to be learned without these becoming the sole content of new qualifications and being phrased in terms of IT.
