AI should empower us.
Our thinking must remain our own.

Via Delos Reyes puts a human question at the center of responsible AI: does the technology strengthen our ability to learn, imagine, and decide?

LeadX Academy · Elevaxion, Inc. · Countdown Journal

AI can draft a report, summarize a reading, and suggest ideas in seconds. The opportunity is clear. What deserves equal attention is what happens to our thinking along the way.

When we accept an answer without examining it, we may finish a task without developing the understanding it demands. When we use AI to explore, question, and compare, it can become part of a more deliberate learning process.

For Via Delos Reyes, LPT, MAFil, featured speaker on Ethical & Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence, that distinction matters:

“AI should empower learners, not make them dependent; expand their thinking, not limit their imagination; and support their decisions, not take away their ability to reason. Technology becomes truly valuable in education when it strengthens human capabilities rather than replaces independent thought.”— Via Delos Reyes, LPT, MAFil

Her reflection draws on human-centered AI principles discussed by Yao Fu and Zhenjie Weng. It is Via’s perspective on those principles, rather than a quotation from their research.

Keep the learner in control

Fu and Weng’s 2024 systematic review examined 40 empirical studies on responsible AI in education. Among the characteristics it identified were agency and autonomy, alongside fairness, privacy, safety, and transparency. Their findings place students and educators among the stakeholders involved in responsible AI practice.

For a learner or leader, the practical question is whether AI assistance leaves room for informed choices. Can you examine its recommendation, challenge the assumptions behind it, and explain why you agree—or disagree?

Human-centered use means keeping that ability active. A system’s fluency should not become a substitute for your understanding.

Three habits that put people first

Ask AI to expand your options. Seek alternative approaches, counterarguments, or questions you may have overlooked. Treat the response as material to examine.

Verify before you rely. Check important claims against original sources. Consider what information is missing and whether the answer fits your actual situation.

Make the decision yours. Explain the reasoning in your own words. Consider the people affected, protect sensitive information, and take responsibility for the next step.

These habits connect ethical use with practical work. They matter in a classroom, a business, a community project, or any setting where an AI-assisted answer can influence someone else.

Bring that mindset to November 6

THINK BETTER WITH AI brings responsible use and practical application into one evening. Via’s session establishes an ethical foundation; Sir Next Tugade Layderos explores how better questions and stronger context can make AI a more useful thinking partner.

Join Elevaxion’s LeadX Academy on Friday, November 6, 2026, from 6:00–8:00 PM at D’Cup Coffee Republic, Kapitolyo, Pasig City.

Your participation also contributes to the event’s fundraising initiative supporting EDUKAAGAPAY scholars. Funds available for scholar support are subject to approved expenses and final reconciliation.

Come ready to ask questions, examine possibilities, and strengthen the judgment behind your decisions.

Submitting the form is a registration request. The committee confirms your seat after registration and payment verification.