From August 2, 2026, educational organizations will have to guarantee artificial intelligence skills to their staff. Here’s what it means in practice and how to prepare.
A deadline that weighs: August 2, 2026
There are only a few weeks left. On August 2, 2026, the European Union’s AI Act becomes fully applicable, and for the first time in history, those who manage an adult education center will have to be able to demonstrate that teachers, tutors and staff know how to use artificial intelligence responsibly. It is not a recommended good practice: it is a legal obligation.
AI tools in the classroom are «high risk»
The AI Act (EU Regulation 2024/1689) classifies as «high-risk» artificial intelligence systems that:
- decide who can access a training course,
- evaluate learning outcomes,
- monitor the trainees during exams and tests,
- guide educational and professional paths.
It means that proctoring tools, automatic correction of tasks, assignment of personalized pathways or screening for admission must pass rigorous risk assessments, ensure human oversight and comply with transparency obligations.
The «AI literacy» obligation is already in place
Few people know it, but the most important rule for educators has already been active for over a year. Article 4 of the AI Act, effective February 2, 2025, requires anyone who «provides or uses» AI systems to ensure a sufficient level of AI literacy among their staff.
Translated: every teacher, every tutor, every operator who opens ChatGPT to prepare a lesson or who uses an AI video tool for students must know how it works, what risks it entails and what ethical rules to follow.
A recently published Eurobarometer survey confirms how aware citizens are of this: 81% believe that teachers should have the skills to use and understand AI.
The Commission’s new guidelines (March 2026)
In March 2026, the European Commission published the updated version of the Ethical Guidelines on the use of AI and data in teaching and learning. The document, part of the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027, provides:
- a clear framework of the legal framework (AI Act + GDPR),
- guiding questions and practical scenarios for the class,
- Five ethical principles of reference: human dignity, fairness, reliability, academic integrity and justified choice.
The concrete problem: who trains whom?
The question is simple: how does an adult education center prove that its staff «has sufficient AI literacy»? We need structured, recognizable and validated training courses at European level. This is exactly the gap that the DAMET project is filling.
The DAMET answer: training + recognition
DAMET (Digital Advancement and Micro-credentialing in Education for Teachers) is an Erasmus+ project coordinated by Ljudska Univerza Ptuj (Slovenia) with six European partners: LESTU (Lithuania), OMNIS (Italy), Lycée La Fayette (France), EMVIO (Greece) and La Lliga (Spain). The project offers three results that can be directly used by training centers:
- A free e-learningprogramin 6 modules dedicated to the most used AI tools in the classroom:
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- ChatGPT — educational chatbots and learning personalization
- Zoom AI — virtual classroom management, transcriptions, and translations
- InVideo — AI-powered instructional video creation
- QuillBot — assisted writing and content development
- Education COPilot — planning, evaluation, personalized support
- AI ethics — privacy, bias, academic integrity
- Amultilingualplatform available in Italian, English, Slovenian, Lithuanian, French, Greek and Spanish, accessible free of charge.
- A system of micro credentials that issues certified digital badges upon completion of modules, aligned with the European Digital Competence Framework for Educators (DigCompEdu) and the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Micro-credentials can be spent across the EU.
Why act now
Complying with the AI Act is not just a matter of avoiding penalties. It is an opportunity to rethink the internal training of its staff and differentiate the training offer from the competition. An educator who masters ChatGPT and understands the ethical limits of generative AI is a more prepared professional, more in demand and more able to transfer these skills to their adult trainees.
Getting started is easy
Just visit the DAMET website, https://damet-edu.eu/it/ to find out about the work of the project.