Every time there is a new technology that comes in, the first effects are felt by schools and teachers. Questions are raised:
Will this new tech disrupt education?
How will pedagogy and teaching content change?
How do we prepare students for the brave new world heralded by this new technological breakthrough?
These questions were asked when calculators came in, and the worry was that students would forget how to add or multiply. With scientific calculators, the concern became even more acute. Teachers came out onto the street to protest against this disruptive new tool. Computers created an even greater brouhaha until they became commonplace in classrooms. Social media, YouTube, and search engines – all raised existentialist questions in the education system.
But no tech has set the proverbial cat amongst the academic pigeons like Generative AI and ChatGPT. Schools panicked – they shut off their Wi-Fi, they blocked the World Wide Web, and they started considering switching back to pen-and-paper exams. While some teachers are excited, most are worried. We do not know how this very powerful cognitive technology will yet again change jobs and education. What we do know is that it will have a profound impact. The rise of AI, and specifically GenAI, isn't just a plot point in sci-fi novels; it's a lived reality that is fundamentally transforming industries, including the job market. Future-proofing education is no longer optional; it's an imperative.
There will be jobs that will get replaced, there will be millions of new jobs generated. Historically every tech has generated more jobs than it has destroyed, but we have never known what these new jobs would be. We did not know there would be Search Engine Optimisers when Google or Altavista were launched; we did not know about social media marketing when Myspace and Orkut reigned. These are what we call the unknown unknowns.
What we do know, however, is that AI or GenAI will not take your job, but a human being using it could. Therefore, students today need to learn how to work with AI to become better at learning, work, and jobs. Thus, future-proofing education will mean embracing the new tools and technologies that GenAI is creating – whether it is ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion, or GitHub Copilot.
Another thing that GenAI will do is to make language and humanities important again, so students must be taught the value of those. Prompt engineering involves knowing how to use language, and how to use contextual and logic skills. Traditional educational curricula seem to be misaligned with the demands of the AI-driven job market. Subjects like history, philosophy, and the arts must continue to be valued for their inherent merits, but the addition of AI literacy, coding, and data science as core components of education is equally crucial. However, it's not merely about teaching students how to code but fostering problem-solving skills, adaptability, and ethical considerations in AI applications.
That brings me to the crucial role of educating students about ethics at a young age. Ethical considerations are increasingly significant be it in data privacy, algorithmic biases, or human-AI collaboration. Educational institutions need to integrate ethics into their AI curricula, thus producing graduates who can make morally responsible decisions in an automated world. They need to learn how to spot fake news, and how to classify between human content and AI-generating content.
One way to think of AI is that it is ‘Augmented Intelligence’, which will augment our human capabilities and thus create hybrid jobs. In an AI-driven job market, professionals are increasingly expected to wear multiple hats. For instance, a marketer today needs to be adept at leveraging AI tools for customer analytics while also possessing creative skills. This concept of 'hybrid jobs' necessitates educational systems that are interdisciplinary and flexible in nature.
Again, AI will not take your job, but a person using AI will. I see a great opportunity for schools and colleges to differentiate themselves by embracing AI tools and preparing their students for AI-augmented hybrid jobs so that they are the people who become the replacers of jobs, rather than those being replaced.
The article is authored by Mr. Jaspreet Bindra, the Founder of Tech Whisperer Limited, UK.
