Towards a Digital Humanism: A Critical Analysis of Ethical Dimensions in UNESCO's AI Frameworks (2021–2025)

This article presents a critical analysis of UNESCO’s normative frameworks on artificial intelligence (AI) and education produced between 2021 and 2025. Drawing upon four key documents — the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (2021), the Guidance for Generative AI in Education and Research (2024) and the AI Competency Frameworks for Teachers and for Learners (2025) — the study examines how UNESCO’s human-centred approach redefines the ethical and pedagogical foundations of education in the digital age. Using qualitative documentary analysis, it explores the evolution of UNESCO’s discourse from a declarative and normative ethics to a pedagogical and operational one. The findings reveal that the recent frameworks translate universal human values — such as dignity, inclusion, justice, and sustainability — into observable educational competences that transform both teaching and learning practices. Teachers are redefined as ethical mediators and learners as reflective citizens, capable of co-creating responsible intelligences. The discussion introduces the concept of an ecopedagogy of intelligence, linking ethics and sustainability within digital education. By aligning ethical AI with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 4, 10, 13 and 16), UNESCO proposes a model of digital humanism grounded in human dignity, ecological awareness, and collective responsibility.