At the 2026 Artificial Intelligence in Education conference in Seoul, Director of Research in Education Innovation Jonna Lee shared Georgia Tech research on AI-supported Socratic dialogue and reflected on presenting her work back home.
It had been seven years since Jeonghyun “Jonna” Lee last walked the streets of Seoul, South Korea. This time, she returned not to visit family and friends, but to represent Georgia Tech at the 2026 Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED) Conference, held as part of the Festival of Learning.
“Presenting my research at an international conference is always rewarding, but having the opportunity to do so in my home country, where my personal roots and professional journey converge, made the experience especially memorable,” said Lee, director of Research in Education Innovation for the Center for 21st Century Universities in the Georgia Tech College of Lifetime Learning.
She also found time to enjoy a familiar favorite, sagol gomtang (Korean beef bone soup).
“It’s a comforting dish that brought back fond memories from home,” Lee said.
The conference reinforced a central takeaway: The future of AI in education will depend on collaboration across disciplines, institutions, and countries. Advancing AI responsibly requires both technological innovation and a deeper understanding of how people learn.
“It served as a reminder that research can bring people from different cultures together in pursuit of better education,” Lee said. “It also strengthened my commitment to designing and studying AI-powered educational tools grounded in learning science and prioritizing meaningful student engagement over technology for its own sake.”
The conference gave her the opportunity to share her research paper, co-authored with College of Lifetime Learning Research Scientist Meryem Yilmaz Soylu, Scaling Socratic Dialogue with Generative AI: Understanding Implications for Student Engagement and Learning Outcomes. It also gave Lee the chance to reconnect with Seoul after years away.
“Seoul felt immediately familiar, yet I was also struck by how much the city had evolved,” Lee said. “Its modern skyline, vibrant atmosphere, and remarkably efficient public transportation system reflected both continuity and rapid innovation.”
Those themes of innovation and tradition also appear in the research. The paper examines an artificial intelligence-powered learning tool designed to scale adaptive Socratic dialogue in large undergraduate courses. The study offers practical guidance for creating learning experiences that encourage meaningful student engagement rather than simply increasing AI use.
The presentation sparked conversations about how AI can support deeper, more interactive learning experiences.
“Many attendees were interested in how adaptive Socratic dialogue can encourage deeper reasoning and reflection, how educators can evaluate the quality of students’ engagement with AI beyond usage metrics, and what instructional strategies are needed to implement AI-supported dialogue effectively while maintaining appropriate human oversight,” Lee said.
Outside the conference, Lee noticed how deeply K-pop has become integrated into daily life in South Korea.
“Its global influence was evident everywhere, from public spaces and advertisements to conversations with people from around the world,” she said. “It highlighted Korea’s growing cultural impact.”
