Education in the post AI world

We are not educating our children for the coming AI and information age. How can we future proof education? What’s the solution?

Speak Your Mind! – “Education in the Post AI World” by Barry Cooper

26–AUG–2024 | A new Renaissance, a new rebirth with focus upon the humanities and humanity and a radical rethink of how we approach teaching, and the use of generative AI. A focus on creative and analytical skills and contextual breadth of knowledge and understanding to provide the keys to unlock the full potential of exponentially improving technology. Welcome to education in the post AI world.

“We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge; quantity is being confused with abundance and wealth with happiness… We are monkeys with money and guns.” Tom Waits

Introduction

Is today’s education system right for tomorrow’s world? As an educator for 20+ years, this is the question I have been asking myself. The launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 has changed our world in a way that even the rise of the internet, or globalization, or the dawning of the industrial age 300 years ago failed to do. Not only knowledge, but the application of that knowledge is now a keystroke away.

I was born at the tail end of Generation X. I remember when we got a phone line in our house, I remember dial tones and rotary dialing. I played outside and we had three then four TV channels. If you wanted to watch something, you had to be on time and a video player was a luxury. I remember being confused by the first computer I saw at school, a BBC effort with a green screen. I was told it was the future: I should have listened. I remember technology improving, the internet arriving, e mail and satellite TV. You could record on your television, then came streaming services and internet millionaires, now billionaires. I used to have to dial telephones one number at a time, now I can ask Siri.

I have seen education change in my lifetime in the same way from chalk boards to online mood boards in what seemed like just a turn of the head. This is important for all of us now who are teachers, parents, and students. This new technology is part of our collective future and we need to consider holistically how we best use what Pandora has emptied out for us. AI is changing things across the education landscape. ChatGTP, a large language model AI is just one part of the new tech landscape.

Personalised learning is something schools and educators strive for. Because AI can assess large amounts of data it means learning models, especially in language learning can provide a more tailored experience. Online language engines from lots of providers now use this technology. This is similar to the adaptive learning processes that allow online courses to adapt to the user via an algorithm. Grading assignments and exams are one of the most time-consuming tasks in education, so this too can be turned over to AI.

Content creation has taken the world by storm and this has lead to the ubiquity of ChatGTP but also a number of other creative AI platforms: creating images, code, music even via the instigation of a prompt. This content creation is based on a large language model that uses an algorithm to predict the next word to be used when producing text.

Other avenues AI is now being used in education include virtual assistants and predictive modelling.

But what are we doing here? Why are we talking about this? Because this is the biggest change in how we deal with information and ideas since the invention of language. Throughout history new innovations have led to a sea change in society and how we see ourselves and others. The invention of camera led to artists developing a hundred new schools and ways of seeing the world, the printing press helped kick start the reformation and let the renaissance erupt across Europe, the mobile phone sent salesmen across the country and laptops with Wi-Fi made the office pointless as we fled to coffee shops to trade, write, create and consume.

AI will mean we have an easier access to information, that we have an easier path to creation and that it will all be disposable. But unlike the printing press, generative AI is not perfect, it does not replicate our thoughts like for like, but rather it is an algorithmic interpretation of a prompt: which is a very dangerous thing indeed. We are at the start of a revolution that could change the nature of education: whether for better or worse depends on what we do next.

Chapter 1: The arrival of AI

Philosophers have been intrigued by artificial intelligences for centuries, Plato’s syllogisms and Descartes’ doubtings all play a part in the creation of what we see today. If we stick to the century in which we see the technology to start to create the reality of AI we have to begin with Alan Turing. There is a famous paper by Turing called “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” that lays out the Imitation Game, referred to in popular consciousness as the Turing Test. A computer and person are hidden from site and the adjudicator then tries to identify which is which through the mechanism of questioning. Passing the test is not guarantee of intelligence, but it does show the computer program as linguistically indistinguishable from a human.

We have passed this mark several times now, though the computer systems used do not actually speak language: they understand, through large language modelling the most likely word to come next in a sequence. For example: if asked to list the colours after red in the most appropriate way the program might say: orange, yellow, green, blue (however a snooker player might say yellow, green, brown, blue pink and black). Large language models speak via an algorithm, not understanding.

AI has triumphed several times over the last 30 years: In 1997, the IBM supercomputer “Deep Blue”  defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov;  and in 2016, Google’s “Alpha Go” defeated Lee Sedol in ‘Go’. However, Alpha Go still does not understand the rules of ‘Go’. And ChatGTP does not speak English.

In November 2022, OpenAI launched ChatGPT version 3 to the public: it was the fastest growing app in history. This has been followed by subsequent versions and we are waiting for version 5 to rear its head (possibly by the time this is published). These generative AI programs have then been copied and other versions of these large language models have been found across the internet, as well as various other generative platforms This, of course, was of immediate interest to educators and other professions who generate material during the course of their work. Marketers, copy writers, creatives, academics and most of all students. Educators saw this as a way of managing the increasing workloads they are asked to take on, especially resource production, marking and administration tasks.  It an opportunity and also a problem. While these generative models can create, they can also provide a chance for plagiarism and cheating.

What does AI actually do today? Here are ten platforms in place in July 2023.

• Scribe: simplifies the documenting of tasks and processes
• Jasper: helps writers overcome blocks and assists with structure.
• ChatGPT: a language model rooted in advanced GPT architecture, used for content creation and research.
• Dall-E2: generates images from text descriptions
• Autodesk’s Generative Design: optimizes designs in engineering
• Wordtune: writing tool
• Notion: coworking platform
• GitHub Copilot: helps write code
• VEED: video editing assistant
• Speechify: a text-to-speech application to convert written text into spoken words

In each case there is a product from these platforms and applications that needs to be very carefully considered. Do we know where it came from?

Impact on work

We are stepping into what I would call an AI and Information age. Technology is advancing exponentially. For example, by 2025 some studies say 25% of people will work remotely, other predictions say by 2027 the AI market will be worth $407 billion. But today 75% of us are terrified about misinformation from AI and 40% of businesses are concerned about technology dependence. The estimated 100,000,000 jobs on the horizon supporting this new technology don’t provide a pathway to use it effectively or in a way that supports the society we have, especially when you consider education. Education is no longer about information, it is about skills, ideas, debate. In an AI future we will need technologists, futurists even, but more than that we will need the humanity to ensure that we direct technology and technology does not direct us.

There are a number of immediate responses to AI that we can read at the moment: how to write good prompts, how to stop children cheating in tests, how we might use the new tools to reduce workload (a workload that will soon be swallowed up with other things). These are elements we need to discuss. The longer term implications are science fiction and speculative. Artificial intelligences have been imagined and worried about for as long as we could conceive of the idea: Issac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, numerous episodes of Star Trek all postulate and predict the dire possibility of a non human intelligence of our creation going rogue.

Impact of Education

The in between is what we are missing: the medium to long term impact on education. How can we move forward in a way that isn’t just focused on plagiarism, but avoids the apocalyptic navel gazing so beloved by the junk media?

The first stage is to accept, the AI revolution in Education is here and it will only develop and expand its reach. We now have generative Artificial Intelligence engines to provide us with everything we could possibly need: a set of notes on particle physics, a map of the Roman campaign in Carthage under Scipio Africanus, an essay espousing the benefits of AI…say no more.

The problem we face is a problem we have had before. We are at a crossroads in development. Many would look to this as a renaissance, a rebirth into the technological age, but instead I would contend that this technological age is in fact the challenge and not the solution.

If we want to look at the actual renaissance as a comparison. Centuries ago in Italy the Pope held sway, the earth was at the center of the universe and there was belief in the divine and the world hereafter: there was faith. Under Urban II the Church launched wars in the name of holy conquest: soldiers gathering for across Europe, hurling themselves across the continent with unbridled religious fervor to reclaim territory from rivals, killing those who did not believe as they did. Urban VII banned scientific development on the grounds it spoke directly against holy scripture (Gallileo was put under house arrest for that one).

It seems a world away from today’s interconnected and information-rich existence, but there is a common theme. There is a single, powerful, didactic authority from which information and ideas flow: in one direction. Creativity and critical thinking were not valued outside of the production of arts and music to glorify the ideas inherent in the church.

Back in the late 1400s this authority was contended by the philosophy of humanism: a combination of the rediscovery of the ancient world and its works and a new exploration of the natural world. The leaders are names we all know: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael etc. We had the Renaissance. A rebirth and revaluation of the ideas that had run our thinking for so long. There was science, freedom of thought, a return to classical ideas of the individual, philosophy and literature became the order of the day and writers like Machiavelli started to ask interesting questions about power. The Church even embraced new ideas and new ways of thinking.

Today the use of AI has removed something human from the production of material, content, art, ideas. This algorithmic intelligence (which will become in due course an artificial intelligence) is built on the back of the repository of knowledge on the internet. It is a search engine. However it is not human, it does not think, and we need something more if we are going to use it to the very best. We need, much like the Renaissance, the human element.

Without a human prompt our new AI friend stays silent, without a mind to read the material we are led into the same trap our forebears were stuck in until released by progressive philosophy: received information as gospel. This is the issue faced before the renaissance and a trap we must not fall into again.

The advent of AI is not a renaissance, we actually need an intellectual rebirth in order to ensure we progress and use this new technology in a way that benefits us all. We cannot simply sit back and accept what we are told by AI. We need humanism, critical thinking, and creativity.

Harnessing the power of AI

In an AI rich future, a cultural and human education is vital to provide the context in which information is seen. Cultural education is one pathway to greater understanding, bringing together perspectives from across the planet, from across nations, religions, ethnicities, social and economic groups, politics and philosophies. Cultural and human education gives us a lens through which we can examine the world with clarity while creating a society with a greater sense of their humanity.

More than our different lives, backgrounds, philosophies and histories it is also about examining the skills we need to live. Our students need to learn how to play in a team, how to lead, how to ask a question, understand where power truly lies; use critical thinking, problem-Solving, research Skills, communication, and collaboration. If we are to harness AI properly within education we must understand the possible ramifications of its wider, medium to long term use and educate accordingly. We will have to create an environment for success that comes in three parts: context, connection and communication.

We are, rather hubristically, recreating a classical approach here in the twenty-first century. This three-stage approach is in fact a new Trivium: grammar, logic and rhetoric. Denoted as the word ´trivium’ in the Middle Ages, these foundational skills were seen as the lower order of the seven liberal arts: the other four being Music, Geometry, Arithmetic, and Astronomy. These language skills (grammar, logic and rhetoric) underpin our new concepts for the AI Age: context, connection and communication. They are now not just about the structure and use of language, but about the structure and understanding of the world.

Context, much like Grammar, is the foundation. In this case it is the foundation for education in the AI world. Without cultural, socio economic, historical context on which to ground our decision making we cannot move beyond the information we are presented with by generative AI. We certainly cannot ask for the right things or adequately assess the output of AI when we are presented with the returns from our prompts. 

Connection is the ability to work with others, but also to be connected to the world. In an increasingly siloed workspace and the advent of online working and schooling this is important to not only temper the skills already there, but to learn further from others and through others. The perspective of generative models will reflect back at you the prejudices of your questions and your approach; however the counsel of a wise friend may take you places you had not even considered.

Communication is very similar to rhetoric: the explanation of our ideas, but also understanding that communication is not just about words on a page or a speech on the air. How we deliver information to one another is changing every day, verbal spoken, written, multiple languages, interpersonal, intra personal, nonverbal, visual, mathematical, scientific, artistic, musical communication are all parts of our every day. Education in the information age has to provide the skills to hone a voice to a particular time and place.

The challenge is massive and the solution, in my view, is a return to structured appreciation of education, but with the net extended far beyond what a classical, traditional or even modern education provides. We develop the context for our students understanding, build their connection to the world and their humanity and pass them the tools to speak and understand the world as it changes at its rapidly increasing pace.

Chapter 2: The criticality of Context

Context is the cornerstone and foundation of preparing for an AI future. In a world where information is available in multiple forms at the whisper of a prompt, it is incumbent upon us to ensure our students and children, and colleagues for that matter, have a robust, broad, enlightened framework within which to filter and use that information. Context is about understanding the culture, economic reality, and history you are operating in – so that you can intelligently question and analyse the information you are presented with.

To have a strong contextual understanding, a student needs global awareness, cultural competence and Intellectual Curiosity. These areas are the foundations that underpin the higher order areas of critical reading and thinking, analytical reasoning, and then more importantly, creative thinking. The knowledge base encompassed in global awareness and cultural competence gives a touchstone to the intellectually curious against which they can compare the ideas and evidence they are presented with. Within this framework where emotional intelligence flourishes and empathy and compassion develop we start to see real self awareness. That ability to self-reflect in real time means that ethical understanding is part of the process of decision making and the use of AI becomes clearer and more successful as the user has a set of foundations on which to fall.  

Using these areas to ground our students in the world today means that they can be more confident in using AI both as a tool and in some cases as a colleague when dealing with more complex undertakings. The simplest example would be a question of a chatbot about an historical event: having a clear contextual understanding means that  the student is able to accept, or counter what is being presented.

What we don’t see is some of the key areas needed for context in our classrooms being delivered upon. Global awareness is the need to understand the broad sweep of history, geography, religion. Privilege and bias. We have seen some action taken on this in the past few years, but not nearly enough. To what extent are the histories of other cultures and societies taught outside your school without some connection to your own? Even then it is often in connection to wars or to conquest. We have to remove national perspective in favour of international to allow our students to thrive in an international world, the must enjoy exploring global trends and the spread of ideas. Parents must buy into this change as well: understanding there is more than one way to see the world is a powerful tool we can give to students and children.

Cultural competence has been ransacked by education providers and governments over the past years in a race to provide skills in the sciences and mathematics. The first courses to be cut are those that are deemed surplus to economic requirements: ironically I would argue that these are the courses that will provide the biggest benefit to students working in the world of 2040. We can still create these opportunities for students in our schools by fighting for music and arts and theatre provision, as well as providing the opportunity to engage with it on a wider scale: seeing trips, engaging local artists and cultural groups: especially those who want to celebrate their native national cultures. Parents help this in everyway by being open to new opportunities to stretch children’s comfort zones just a little: new food, new films, new art, new books, a new visit to an exhibition about somewhere they may never have heard of.

Intellectual curiosity is not enabled as much as it could or should be. This skill, or aptitude, depending on your view leads to the development of an intellectual framework and a personal context that enables intelligent use of AI tools. A way of questioning with an open mind and “guard rails” against fake news and glib explanations. It can be fostered in education through modelling, teaching techniques and at home through the same open approach.

Global Awareness

A general global awareness and political understanding of the planet is a hygiene factor for working internationally or navigating complex issues of politics, economics, language and culture. Context means a global context. Every person on the planet is an infinitely complex part of the whole, influenced and impacted by their history, their home, their ideas transmitted to them through generations of family or social structure. A person growing up in the Scottish Highlands will naturally differ from someone from Melbourne, Abuja or Sao Paulo. But how? At first glance we look at geography, perhaps language, perhaps upbringing and faith: then we can start with diet, food, historical background and political views; then more complex issues like GDP, country politics and international relationships.

But this does not mean understanding every culture on the planet: a tough ask. It is about instilling curiosity about and appreciation of a culture’s importance to the person you are working with, or the place you are working in. It is also about understanding the importance of culture or cultural bias when moving into the information world as well as the massive range of factors that can determine differences across the planet

When we model curiosity about the world, we inspire our students and children to do the same. This can start with something as simple as food. One of my heroes, Anthony Bourdain, wrote: “If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food, it’s a plus for everybody. Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.” This is not always to achieve in a school, we cant all relocate our students for an experience or take trips: but we can connect with the communities and people in our local community and engage with their lived experience.

I think food is always the first (and often the simplest) time we experience a new culture: I travelled to China in my 30s, but had been eating Chinese food since I was a child. There is a pride that comes with food and eating with someone from another culture when you are eating their food will be a true cultural starting point. That food has a story, that food has a journey: perhaps across the planet, perhaps via recipes handed down from mother to son, father to daughter. The first step to global awareness is to eat with people. I’ve enjoyed Jollof rice in Lagos, Xiaolongbao in Shanghai, Black Goat in Yunnan,  a New York Strip in Times Square and Pho on the streets of Hanoi. Every time eating with locals, every time taking more from the experience. But I have also  shared a bottle of Maotai with Chinese friends in Edinburgh and eaten pan de muerto with a Mexican colleague in Madrid: the world can be right outside our front door.

To eat with people you need to meet and be with people from across the world. Having friends from different faiths, different countries, models a world we would all hope to see, but also allows the opportunity for exploration by our children and students. International schools are an amazing environment for this when 20, 30, 40 different nations all share classrooms and begin to share each other’s lives. There is always the nervousness about asking about other countries or other ways of life, but my experience moving across the planet has shown me people love to explain their world to a new friend and are 99% of the time genuinely pleased that someone would want to know more.

I remember learning Mandarin Chinese in part through the shopkeepers, barmen, wait staff in my area in Shanghai. Everytime I went into a new place it was a chance to practice. What I found was that to learn language you need to be brave. I am not a natural language learner, but if you can embrace your embarrassment (and I appreciate this is a very English thing) and just go for it, you’ll find people often keen to meet you halfway. The idea of a six foot ten inch Englishman lumbering along East Nanjing Road and then ordering a coffee in Chinese was hilarious to 90% of the people I met: but when I did slip up, they wanted to help. Not because of the order, but because they were genuinely appreciative and surprised that I would make the effort. People are amazing, remember that if nothing else.

After people is travel. Study is no replacement for being in a new place. The very air will seem different. Spending time in a new place brings that place closer to you. Being somewhere new is not being somewhere with a beach, but rather being with new people in a new land. I remember the very first time I went to the middle east and the wave of heat that swept over me as I stepped off the plane: it was very different from my native UK.  However you are never able to be from that place, even after years of living there. This can only, sadly, bring understanding, very rarely true belonging. What travel, people and food bring together is what we’ve talked about already, curiosity. This is often the purview of those with means, however travel can be more than foreign countries: it can be new environments very close to home. These might be new places within your own country, or perhaps intellectual travel: clubs, societies, new hobbies or new classes you are taking.

An example of this from my own childhood: I think curiosity leads to action on the part of children or students. I remember from my childhood, I grew up in an area with a large Asian community from the Punjab, My Sikh friends were amazing, kind and welcoming: so much so I tried to learn some Punjabi. As a 10 year old I sought out a book and tapes at the local library, I practiced and I wanted to learn. But I was missing an element that is vital in these endeavors, support.

In the 1980s it was unusual for an English speaker to want to learn a non native language, even more unusual to learn a non European language even though it and various derivations of it are spoken by 100,000,000 people. We must support the curiosity of our students and our children. Understanding why they want to do something and then helping them actualize it. In the end, for me, the support wasn’t there, and as a shy boy I was put off the attempt, though I can still remember a few phrases I managed to pick up.

It is, probably, my single greatest academic regret. The ability to speak another language opens possibilities from the very start. We do not have to be able to have long, in depth conversations to get the benefits of a foreign tongue: as I found in China, even the smallest effort can be appreciated and build a bridge between you and the people you are with.

The final step once we have moved into curiosity is to ensure that the opportunity to know more is always there and available. Travel and the availability of inspirational people around you cannot be guaranteed, but what is there is a child’s curiosity that can be filled in the classroom, at home, on the road through reading, watching, exploring the media and mediums from the different cultures that spark an interest. In the English language there are any number of great periodicals to seek out that give a broad sweep of the world. The Economist is always a great starting point. At school political courses or clubs, open discussion, news apps or great political writing can start the ball rolling, but we as teachers and parents have to be there to see the signs of interest and to provide the opportunity to explore.

Cultural Competence

Cultural Competence is the natural progression from global awareness. Cultural competence is not the ability to always understand and operate within a new culture (although that is part of it, no one can know all things) but rather the ability to see and understand the importance of culture, however it manifests, and work with it and within it.

Culture comes in a variety of forms and being able to recognize these and their importance is a vital part of the human experience. The first, and most oft talked about is religion. While faith is not as important in Europe today, it is a vital part of identity and identity politics across Africa, parts of Asia and the Americas while also having a large hand in the way society has been formed here in Europe. Our cities, art, even language all have elements of our religious and faith history within them.

Religion is not just a faith structure for many parts of the world, but rather part of the very foundations of that society’s structure, or even language. There are any number of Chinese language idioms that rely on a knowledge of religion, myth and history for full understanding. Whether a person is Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or Hindu will perhaps not always have a bearing on their actions, it will have a bearing on how they think about their actions, their relationships with others, their country, language or family. To define someone just because of their religion is prejudicial, but to understand that a person’s faith may have an impact on how they think about things is a reasonable assumption.

The sharing of faith and Ideas about faith can be a difficult process to engender In schools or In areas where there is a homogeneity amongst those who attend a religious service. If you live in a majority Christian area, you might not get the chance to meet a Sikh, Jain, Jew or Muslim. In schools the easiest way is to share festivals. Across the world this is an ideal moment to bring people together: usually with a service, a show, food (always a big draw). I have attended a range of temples and services as I have travelled in Buddhist, Shinto, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, and Christian communities. In each case those who followed the faith were more than happy to be my guide, help me understand and see more than I would have done otherwise. In schools a great starting point is Ramadan where the arrangement of an Iftar (the breaking of a fast) is an ideal moment to bring people together, to talk about their fasting, the holy month and Islam. Perhaps instead the Lunar New Year is more appropriate; part calendared event, part religious: as communities across Asia celebrate, you can too by holding a simple gathering, inviting local members of those communities, and bringing people together (making dumplings is not that hard). There are other great festivals that bring people together fun events: the Hindu festival of Holi for example, Christmas, Chanukah: I could go on.

Cultural competence is also a way of avoiding traps. This comes best with an understanding of history. The west is a luxurious place. Democratic and conflict free in central and northern Europe for some time. However the rest of the world has not been so lucky. How much do you know about the Biafran war, or the decolonialization of Africa in the 60s and 70s? Within living memory still is much upheaval and change that has helped create a way of seeing and a way of knowing in many countries. Much of the history of the world is hidden from us by a fascination with the big ticket history items. The twentieth century was not just people with bad facial hair trying to take over the planet: a lot more was going on and that has had a major impact on the nations and cultures we interact with. In the last 50 years we have seen the end of the Vietnam war, reunification of Germany, wars across Europe and Africa, the rise of Islamic power in Iran, the Arab Spring, the Syrian civil war, the death of Mao and the opening of China.

We can combat this lack of understanding by ensuring humanities teaching is up to date, is broad and focuses not just on where we are, but where we have been and where we might yet go. History is a key part of how we see the world, but often taught via a national bias it can provide massively contradictory versions of events. In the UK we are taught the bravery and ingenuity of English Sailors saw the end of the Spanish Armada in 1588 during their intended invasion, in Spain students are taught the fleet was sunk due to a massive storm. Which is right? Who do we believe? Just knowing and understanding that there are different ways of seeing the same thing creates an ability to listen and understand another’s perspective: even if you do not agree.

A wide sweep of history can provide just as much context and allow a degree of cultural competence. The broad sweep of macro history, empire, slavery, conquest all gives us a sense of the road a nation or a people have trodden. Now apply that cultural competence to the information age, to the conflicts and conquests of the past hundred years and the deep, ingrained biases formed over that century across the planet. We cannot understand fully the impact of something unless we understand the context in which it arrives. This cultural competence allows us to create a better pathway when working with the weight of information we have and also when we are asking AI for results. We cannot ask a question of an artificial intelligence without at least understanding where the answer should take us.

Intellectual curiosity

“Curiosity is the engine of achievement.” – Ken Robinson

The first requirement for creating context and a framework for thinking in the new informational age is intellectual curiosity. How is this developed?

Every child and every student is naturally intellectually curious and a questioner. From the earliest ages we see children as explorers of the world. That questioning can, alas, be diminished by the regimen of the curriculum, the culture of school, the frustration of the parents who can’t take another: ‘but why?’. Questioning, however, is an intellectual superpower. In class, in school, in any learning, the more questions a student asks, the better their eventual outcome. Without curiosity about the world a student will never meet their own expectations: but this curiosity is developed most effectively when curious things are presented to students by schools or by parents from birth onwards. We have to show off the world and see what grabs their attention.

The best way to help develop this aptitude either in school or at home is to, as Walt Whitman said: ‘be curious’. You need to show that you are keener on understanding the world than your child or student. The modelling of the behaviour we want to see in others is always stage one of the road to embedding that behaviour in a home or a class. We need to be the change we want to see in the world, and in our children.

We must always ask questions. Questions are a magical tool: they get people thinking about the answers, but also thinking about their own questions. When we ask questions it is not enough to focus on the facts, but rather we must focus on the reasons. In essence it is not a question, but questioning that has the greatest impact: any question needs to be followed up with a second or a third; answers need to be challenged, reframed, played with and redirected. Play and playfulness with curiosity is a way to make it a game played without losers. There is no right or wrong answer: simply what do you think? An example would be when asked about the world’s richest country, ChatGTP3.5 said the USA, however when asked the more interesting question, why, it gave us a long list of factors.

1. Large and Diverse Economy
2. Innovation and Technology Leadership
3. Entrepreneurship and Business-Friendly Environment
4. Strong Higher Education and Research Institutions
5. Abundance of Natural Resources
6. Global Trade Engagement
7. Influential Financial Sector
8. Diverse and Skilled Labor Force
9. Cultural Influence
10. Political Stability and Rule of Law

Much like the example of the Spanish Armada, the ability to assess these factors and gauge their importance is where context and intellectual curiosity come to the fore, we cannot interrogate an answer adequately if we don’t have the underpinning understanding of the concepts and structures it provides.

You can practice active listening to develop intellectual curiosity and ideas in the classroom. Rather than direct questioning, guide a conversation, showing how to listen to them without interrupting or correcting. Never throw roadblocks up, but rather redirect the talking to the right path and help them to the end. Active listening techniques like: attentiveness, open-ended or probing questions, clarifications and paraphrasing what you’ve heard are all great ways to extend, develop and increase the curiosity in the classroom for students of 3 upwards. In fact I would always recommend teachers of older children spend some time with those who work with the youngest students to see how their guidance and pedagogical approach can work for them.

When we do start to add new ideas or new problems for them to chew over, the focus must be kind. Don’t add a whole school of thought all at once. Slowly add it brick by brick, try to students them see how it fits together: then to continue the metaphor, let them build the rest of the idea, or concept themselves. Get them to seek out the next step or stage. Intellectual curiosity eventually leads to agency, which leads to the self actualization we want for all of our children and students. Curiosity moreover is built in a safe space where learners are encouraged to take risks, delve and dive into material, ask questions and eventually suggest ideas and new pathways to discovery.

Curiosity like this is a foundation skill for the building of a personal context. Personal context is the basis for knowledge and how we see the world. The narrower the intellectual curiosity, the narrower the context and the more difficulty students have when addressing complex problems. That personal context is built up of experiences, historical and cultural understanding, linguistic ability, and emotional intelligence as well as other elements individual to each person. The personal context and underpinning knowledge and skills  help work with AI more effectively: expanding questioning and your prompt ideas, while also ensuring students look at received information, whatever its source, with curiosity and a healthy dose of skepticism.

Question everything

Critical reading and thinking is the natural consequence of a cultural competence and global awareness. The ability to look at a problem, or piece of content and assess it is a vital skill for the coming AI age. Remember that AI produced material is repurposed, via an algorithm from the wealth of material on the internet. When you ask a question of AI you are asking it to give you information, but it does so like a child collecting all the blue tokens. There is no nuance or thought to the replies it gives. We need to be more doubting than Descartes in order to ensure we make sense of the world presented to us in the information age.

Critical Reading and thinking are ways of approaching problems required in every conceivable profession. As we move into a content rich world it will be come ever more important for those involved in the media, law, politics, health and wellbeing (to name only a few) to ensure they have assessed the information they are being given against their own criteria (that it is seen in context) and that received information is not taken as gospel. It has to be remembered that there will be dominant stories in the information analysed, and that information, because of the nature of material online, will have a severe anglophone bias, which leads to a severe cultural bias when considering the authors will most likely come from one of the major English speaking nations. Nearly 60% of the websites online are written in English. The next highest statistic is round 5% for Russian, Spanish and French. If an AI large language model is taking from this information there is an inbuilt bias.

This means a learner who has the ability to think critically will be able to make decisions with a greater clarity. This becomes very important when we look at the development of education as abusiness: students who are selecting subjects, degree choices and career paths will turn to online for key areas of information and AI will be a way they access it. When making these life decisions there are a range of artificial intelligence programmes available in the form of assessments to help guide students towards suitable pathways and careers. However like most tests and surveys, all the way up to IQ tests, these have inherent biases and the individual is always better placed to decide their future. This approach to decision making processes, could be extended to voting. Decision making is the heart of the political process, both for politicians and the voters who cast their ballots. Our lives are littered with decisions, few as important as the direction your community or country will take. That vote needs to be respected and the best way to ensure that is a critical approach to the options on offer.

To create critical thinkers we turn back to the mechanisms we use to create the intellectually curious, we go back to questions. To challenge students and children with questions and then to challenge their answers is to engage in critical thinking and awareness. The Socratic method, the asking of questions and subsequent discussion creates an environment that leads to ideas that are supported by other ideas, or by the evidence they have from around them. It is hard to be a critical thinker without an understanding of the world. A Critical thinker must understand the problem through analysing and judging the information given before coming to a conclusion and solution that must be assessed against the initial issue: without a wider knowledge, an analytical mind, a cultural competence this is not possible on a human level.

AI and our information age will give us all the information we can handle and more, but it cannot substitute for an analytical mind and the ability to call BS on something that doesn’t quite seem right.

AI is the paintbrush, not the artist

Creative thinking and the creative act is still a human endeavour. Perhaps in the age of AI we can create bespoke images without raising a paintbrush or a camera, however the truly creative process is still something beyond the scope of our new technological assistance. Creativity must be a part of education in the coming years. Creativity is as much a process as any other pursuit, the myth of the genius is one propagated by those who seek to gate keep the arts. Art and creation is something inherent in all of us: this book alone is 20,000 words strung together in a way no one has every thought (its value is up to the reader, but it is a creation nonetheless).

Everything we see, touch, have: all of it has been through the hands of a designer, a creative. The colour of your sweater, the shape of the desk I’m writing this on, the depth of the laptop keys. All of it, created by another, by a human. That creativity is the spark that has led us to AI, to the technological age, but can we sustain it if we lurch from our own ideas to the incessant repurposing of others work via media generation engines online?

Truly creative people are those who are able to deal with the uncertainty of problems. They don’t rush to find an answer, they don’t jump upon the first solution. They are able to withstand the initial urge to find the first best solution and will ponder the situation far longer and from that comes more ideas. They are happy to throw possible solutions around knowing they may not have the right approach but that it may generate more ideas. They are brave, and without ego, knowing creation takes time, effort and ingenuity. How can we retain this in a process that provides answers at the drop if a prompt?

Creativity must be taught lest we even lose the ability to help our machines create for us. But creation does not happen under pressure, under the gun: it needs a welcoming atmosphere, uncritical and without fear. Only when we are safe do we take risks, and to create something new is an act of risk. What if it fails? What if no one likes it? What if I am laughed at? All reasonable fears, all blocks to our creativity. A safe space at home or at school that sees the young able to create, or to ask the questions we don’t think about anymore: why am I not a beetle? What is fire made of?  Are we really here? What’s outside the universe?

This is one of the advantages of our new AI tools. The ability to create, discard and create again without fear, without the effort it takes to consider all the tiny issues that come with a new project or creation. We have an ease of creation. But with that ease we need to ensure we understand the creative process as it applies to us, to our students. What is it we are using this tool for creatively?

Creativity is problem solving. Think of all the great authors and works of fantastic literature that, at their heart, were asking truly human questions. What is love? What would happen if a man created life? Is empathy important in an increasingly technological world? (I was thinking of Romeo and Juliet, Frankenstein and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep). In terms of new art both the context of our artistic history and an understanding of the creative process are key parts of being able to use the mechanisms of the information age with purpose. There is a great analogy of the infinite monkey cage where an infinite number of monkeys bash at an infinite number of typewriters: they eventually create every work of literature every produced: however we don’t extend that to absurdity nearly enough. That infinite monkey cage also creates a version of Ulysses by James Joyce where the hero is a turnip. So with AI. Unfettered and without the guiding hand of creativity we are left with vegetable themed classic novels.

Where else do we find the outlets or the training ground for creativity? Entrepreneurship is an example of a great set of skills to teach at school to enable this thinking. The assessment of a problem, a gap in the market, the design of a product, the creation and marketing: it is at its heart a purely creative endeavour, solving problem after problem. Our AI friend can help us with the material, but can it solve a problem for us with the nuance of a business or a novel, the beauty of a painting or transcendence of an opera? It is only with the opportunity to express in safety and the celebration of failure and reengagement that we can truly teach creativity as a skill and ensure every child understands they are creative, whether they paint or not.

Supporting creativity is not about developing artistic skills, although there is a need to reengage with these skills as many education programs are seeing the arts disappear. At home and at school we support creative thinking through our development of contextual understanding; creating a framework that is open, free from bias and accepting of new ideas and possibilities. This starts with open and honest dialogues between teachers and students. The removal of false power dynamics, the removal of older, perhaps more Confucian ideas about respecting the teacher and the lesson and more developed ideas about questioning and freedom of thought. Creativity happens in safe spaces where diversity and inclusion are celebrated, where teachers realise they may not be the smartest person in the room.

I remember very early on I learned that being the smartest man in the room was not a prerequisite for being a good teacher. Rather a teacher’s role is to ensure that those smarts get a chance to shine. The ‘sage on the stage’ mentality in education crushes creative thought. What happens when a computer program with as many as a trillion parameters starts to take the lead, what will happen to that creative thought? It must be protected and AI used as a tool to develop that creativity. AI is the paintbrush, not the artist.

Emotional intelligence

That emotional intelligence missing from technology and AI comes to the fore in the creative act. It is a skill that will become ever more vital as we move forward. Technology and new ways of being lead to a disruption in our way of thinking and our approach to ourselves. The ability to work with human beings on a personal, social and emotional level will be valued as much as technical skills were in the dot.com boom of the early Noughties.

Emotional intelligence is a result of understanding context and also a skill that can lay the foundation for higher order personal skills. It can lead to other elements like empathy and compassion and onwards towards self-reflection and awareness. Without an emotional connection to others or to the wider issues of our world the child or student becomes cut off and singularly focused: there is no breadth or depth of thought, only self reinforcing personal KPIs that will vary from person to person, but will not amount to success.

Emotional intelligence comes from an environment that respects and understands that our emotional state is important. Both at home, at school and at work frankly we can all start the day with an emotional check in: how are we doing, honestly? What could help make that better. This check in however must be in a culture of kindness and blamelessness for matters of mental health. An emotional state is as important as any other and its dismissal can be more damaging than we can fathom. It also allows a different perspective on the work produced by AI.

Partnership and group work in schools creates bonds and chances to see others and to deal with the challenges created with differing ideas. Play is vital. Play is how we learn. We are too far away from our childhood to recognize just how frustrating it can be to learn to catch a ball, to throw, to jump, to walk even. I love Lego. It is a fantastic tool for children between the ages of 0 and 99. The benefits of creativity, fine motor skills, but also patience and self regulation of emotions like frustration and confusion as something wont quite go together.

The ability to self regulate doesn’t come to us young, in fact there are still people I am sure we all know who just cant control their anger, their passions, their frustrations. They haven’t realized how their outbursts impact the other people in the room, they are not wary enouugh of the role of their anger on a child, or even another colleague. We can fundamentally change how we are perceived or how others work with us, or see us in a split second of emotional carnage.

The best remedy and the way we create emotional intelligence, or at the very least foster it, is by talking to one another. Conversation and communication about how we see the world is vital. This emotional intelligence is what moderates our approach to what we do and how we do it. AI is afforded no such luxury. An emotionally intelligent user is in a position to understand not only how they are affected by the material they consume, but also their effect on others via what they produce. There is an unfeeling world out there and we must ensure that all our children are equipped with the resilience and emotional intelligence to deal with what is thrown at them.

A key part of emotional intelligence has, over the past few years, been mindfulness. This is a the modern, watered-down version of a philosophy called Stoicism. Stoicism says many things, but its key ideas were best expressed to me by a very good friend and former Police officer (who you can imagine has seen some traumatic things in his career).

• I am one man with two hands.
• We will do one thing at a time.
• Everything stops for tea.

Recognizing what you can do and what you can’t, laying out how you will approach things and giving yourself space to breath, to take stock, to rest your mind, which is a muscle like any other and will become tired when over whelmed.

Where we turn over the organisation of our approach to work, study or life to a generative AI model we are removing the emotional, personal element from that structure. There have been some interesting uses of AI to look at specific educational needs, but in each case the nuance of the need in terms of the student relationship to their need was not taken into account. This leads back to the worry at the start of our discussion: blanket ideas that don’t reflect the humans at the centre. The renaissance is needed to put the person at the centre of the discussion: not the problem.

Putting the individual at the centre of the discussion leads to that individual being able to contextualise themselves in the midst of the wider scope of their learning. Working in a future of AI we will be constantly challenged to reflect on who we are, what matters to us, how we are working with the new technologies that will come from the foundations being laid now. The ability to self reflect born out of the context, awareness and emotional intelligence discussed above allows a user, a student, a colleague to understand where the information they are receiving fits within their understanding, and how it impacts them directly. They will also start to understand how their own inherent bias, we all have them, impacts the way in which we use new engines.

This use is a particular problem when we work with generative AI in its early stages as the algorithms will only be as good as the questions e ask. If we attach our own biases to those questions, coupled with the inherent anglophone focus of much of the material being accessed we double down on those biases and do not create, but rather regurgitate that which has gone before.

I saw a fantastic meme the other day. The caption simply read:

“In the age of AI, a manger will just have to be precise about what they want.”

The image was of a very relaxed employee.

It highlights that although there is an ease with the information future, there is also a difficulty that will amplify our bias, our fear and our weaknesses if we do not use it with a humanity and a self reflection that the Stoics would be proud of.

Epictetus, a second century Greek Stoic says ‘First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.’ Which sounds very grand until you realise Dolly Parton (yes that one) uttered something very similar but far more pithy: ‘Work out who you are, then do it on purpose’. Whether you are a fan of dead Greek guys or country superstars the thinking leads in the same direction: a personal touchstone to assure our actions. As Wendell Pierce said (as Detective Moreland in The Wire): ‘A man must have a code’. 

With that self awareness we use the tools more effectively and create something new.

Making good decisions

Our self reflection and personal touchstones allow us towork with AI in a way that ensures ethical understanding and decision making. This allows us to see the inherent bias in the way the algorithm promotes ideas, personalities, concepts, works. When creating a prompt for AI can we ensure that bias is removed, that ethical considerations are taken into account? Two examples of issues:

Art work. To what extent is the art work produced by an AI engine the property of the person who created the prompt, or the company who created the AI engine, or the actual art6ist studied to then produce the work. If an engine starts to create new Da Vinci’s, 3D prints new Michaelangelo Sculptures or recreates a series of Rothko’s work: where does ownership lie? Unfinished works of long dead authors can be studied, and new stories created at the click of a button. Sherlock Holmes can live forever with infinite new adventures: however is this right, and does this impoverish us as a society? Already we complain about repetitious ubiquity of Hollywood movies, what else will this give us?

The bias in the available material to an AI engine comes out when questions are asked of it. If we want a list of the world’s greatest leaders, the typical answer will be delightfully phallocentric: not a woman to be seen. Yet there are thousands of amazing women from history who would happily take their place on a list like that. There would be similar bias when talking about artists, engineers, businesses, innovators and inventors. All AI has to work with is what we give it; so it is natural it would reflect our own societal prejudices back to us.

This ethical dilemma is most important as we consider the longevity of our planet: to what extent can AI have environmental consciousness in the way we need it to without the human input. Perhaps instead of environmentalism we focus on social justice, an aspect of our society that requires the context we have been discussing. Because AI is not human it cannot be malicious, however it can be unfeeling and the outcomes from it might, if we anthropomorphize the large language model to that extent, seem malicious. We, as ethical users of AI have to bring that context into our interactions to create outcomes that respect the society we want.

Conclusion on Context

Decisions made by AI are done so on the basis of prompts given by a user. If we consider that our reliance on AI will only increase it is vital that we are increasingly thoughtful about the questions we ask of our new AI helper.

The contextual understanding of the culture and history you are operating in, intellectual curiosity, global awareness and cultural competence leads to critical reading and thinking, analytical reasoning, and creative thinking. This is the starting point to good prompts, and a sensible use of the new information tools at our disposal. But it is an understanding of context that allows emotional intelligence, empathy and compassion to flourish which leads to our eventual aim of deeper  self reflection and self awareness. Without this there can be no deeper ethical understanding or decision making.

Understanding the context of the world is in effect the first driving lesson in the most powerful information tool presented to the human race thus far. Without the moral touchstone, without, as Dolly Parton said, ‘deciding who we are’, we are in danger of crashing the information age into a series of self-replicating, technologically onanistic, outcomes.

How do we create context in the age of AI?

There is a need for context in the age of generative AI, because without it we run the risk of deferring to a new pope, simply regurgitating the past or, worse still, not thinking for ourselves. A context gives us a touchstone and a chance to plant our feet firmly in the sand before taking on the world. In a interesting debate with a friend we looked at AI generated paragraphs about WWI. While they seemed factually correct, their assessment of the differing perspectives led to some quite ropey verbal diarrhea. There was no nuance, no understanding of the individual national issues, identities or outcomes of the conflict. While this might be corrected with more detailed prompts and tweaking of the information, it is not something that every student wil be able to do unless they have a base understanding of their topic to start with. AI in it’s current form needs an intelligent user, with a contextual understanding of the topic: otherwise we are just blinking dumbly at an expectant waiter who will serve us the most simple version of our request. 

We create context by first being aware of its need. The medium term danger is that we start to defer to AI rather than using it as a tool. The personal understanding that context is required takes the first step in protecting decision making and analysis.

In schools context comes through the world view that students are able to develop. A focused importance on the humanities creates a world view that allows us to relate what we see with what we know. This has to happen in the sciences as well. School curriculums are devoid of philosophy and ideation. Instead, often, they are factually based, rote learned process based demonstrations of knowledge rather than the use of the ideas in devising answers to problems. This is changing in many countries, but rote learningand information is what AI is best at delivering for now.

To develop the conext our students have they need to see it as their starting point. How do they see the world? This comes with internationalism in the curriculum, opportunities to explore the world in whatever capacity is available: not everyone can travel, but they can certainly start to see how and why the world sees in the way it does. The removal of nationalistic approaches to ideas and the deliberate consideration of others perspctives across all areas of study

This is why deplatforming – a tactic so beloved of some of the more extreme groups at Universities, is so damaging. To decide an idea is too dangerous to be uttered is a juvenile response to the failure of argument. Ideas we dislike must be brought out into the light and examined fully so we can all decide if it has worth. Voltaire had the right idea when he said he would disagree with an opinion, but would fight to the death for the right to express it.

Perhaps Bertrand Russell had it right when he wrote his Outline of Intellectual Rubbish:

‘If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do…whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants.’

So the way forward is breadth of education, debate of ideas, wealth of study within the humanities and an international perspective so we can truly understand the world. There was a course I took in the 1990s at Dartford Grammar School called European Studies. It was economic, cultural, historical and political in its makeup, but it taught us so much about the context of the history in which we were living. In the short term we can push these ideas in school and college and at home with our children, exposing them to new ideas, to literature to poetry, after all as TS Eliot said: ‘the poet is occupied with the frontiers of consciousness beyond which words fail, though meanings still exist’. However in the long term we must formalize the study of the world, our past, our present and our future. How else can we understand ourselves and gain a true context for the use of technology in any form?

Chapter 3: The opportunities we don’t see: Connection

Education is moving into a technological future. Already we see the impact with online schooling becoming more popular. There are a number of these ventures across the world now, ranging from a few hundred students to a few thousand, offering, through the technology at our disposal, a new way of learning. There are various forms across schooling, continuous learning and development, and also university: online, hybrid, academic pill or asynchronous courses that commodify singular skills (often relying on a reactive algorithm). However these new ways of engaging with learning often miss something vital, a human connection.

When I talk about connection, I am talking specifically about the connection with the experiences and wisdom of those around us, of the human perspective, of the emotional response. My contention is that without the human element we can never teach our next generation how to lead or how to question. Understanding power and influence comes from interaction and connection at a deeper level than through the chat room, or reading Hobbes or Machiavelli. One just needs to look at the way in which we receive a blank text message to understand the various prejudices we impose upon it; how many of us have thought someone was cross in a message they received before realizing they had simply had caps lock stuck on their phone? We have spent millennia understanding how to read a room, how to read people, and now that room has changed beyond recognition in just a few years by having all the people sucked out of it.

Virginia Woolf valued the “naked contact of the human mind”, while Antony Bourdain encouraged us to “drink heavily with locals whenever possible.” It’s not a bad idea. But let us substitute ‘drink’ for ‘break bread’: a healthier approach. But what did he mean?

Bourdain was a raconteur, a storyteller and a communicator. If you read any of his work or watch his documentaries you will see that he is the very definition of an extrovert in that he gets energy from people, he often surrounds himself with people. He engages with that community through the medium of their food, and the odd Negroni of course. It is through those interactions, that normal connection with others over the everyday that he brings creates meaningful discovery. In the same way, those who seek to make progress, lead, create change, all seek out others. This engagement with others and the skills it develops are at risk in the coming AI and information age.

So how do we reconcile these two parts of the educational landscape? We have to recognize that human interaction teaches both conscious and unconscious lessons and the only way to understand the world is to understand the people in it. Therefore AI needs us to have a greater sense of the people around us to be able to use it most effectively. We cannot write in a vacuum, and we should think carefully about what the context our humanity and the humanity of others can give to the world and the way we use technology.

Plotting out your life

AI is a fantastic tool for the planning and development of tasks and projects, but to what extent does it take into account the people in that structure? While AI provides a massive amount of data and opportunity to provide at the very least some insight with that data, it cannot make decisions for you. If we take schools as our example, students can use prompts to lay out ideal plans, timings or structures for their decision making and academic journey, however it cannot help with the decision itself, whatever it might be: Which college do I select? Which subjects do I take?

Looking at a key decision students are making when they enter their last two years of school; the decision on their classes. As a Junior or Senior in high school, what should I take? The right answer will differ depending on who you ask. An AI engine will show students the best AP class to take if they want to get into a specific University or College, however it is not taking into account the aptitude of the student in suggesting a selection, it is not understanding the context of the specific ambition and it does not take into account the context of the school or college being attended. Going further it is the person in the form of the teacher who will be able to explain the course in greater detail with relevance to the student they know and understand, it is also the students from the previous years who will be able to contextualize it for the student making that choice.

When we look at the use of AI as an organizational or decision engine we need to then ascertain the context through the connections and the people involved who may have the holistic information needed for a particular student to make a decisions. We are a long way off from allowing AI to make our life calls, but its closer than we think. The ability to rationally and critically look at planning through the eyes of your own context as well as the eyes of others will create plans that relate not just to the problem, but also the people involved and from that create better organizational structures and processes to deliver results.

Why should we even get out of bed?

Science fiction has any number of post human visions where the human condition has been reduced to the playing of games. Some of these are Utopias: the classic Culture novel, ‘The Player of Games’ by Iain M Banks is one such visions. Its also an amazing read and one of my all-time favourite novels. But there is also the dystopian vision of a feckless future seen in films like Logan’s Run: all partying and frivolity. In all honesty it is a real worry.

While the advent of organized and efficient farming in the fertile crescent and the Indus Valley thousands of years ago gave us more time to pursue other ideas and helped civilization kick start, it also allowed for the lazy and the hopeless to slack off. Civilizational development and the beauty of capitalism has seen any number of labour saving devices from crop rotations, irrigation, the wheel, and animal husbandry to the abacus, calculator, internet and so on. However this seeming rule that sees technology replace humans so the humans can focus on higher order thinking and tasks may not be a rule. Perhaps the higher order thinking may be taken away from us. So if we are protecting our students and children from anything in the future, it might be from their own laziness and the ease with which they reach for the full fat soda. Creating meaning, initiative and self motivation must be part of our educational conversation going forward.

How far are we taking control of the tasks and objectives we set ourselves? Are we even setting them? How far can we use AI to guide us and take us on the pathway through our project or our learning before we interact with a human who gives us pause for thought? Perhaps this is a serious benefit of AI. The move from having to do, to being allowed to be. What I mean by this is that AI allows for the removal of the mundane, the tasks that can be completed remotely to free up time to think strategically, to concentrate elsewhere. This is a massive boon for professionals everywhere, but does it help or hinder students? Are they in position to think strategically yet if they rely on AI for other elements of their lives. They certainly can’t allow AI to take on the role of learning, but that is the fear of every exam board and University Dean.

Our connection to others elicits that competition we want to see. It also provides the impetus to spring out of bed each morning rather than lay there death scrolling through the latest offerings on social media. Trapped in our information bubble we do have connection that can elicit competition; however to what extent is this a mirage perpetuated on social media platforms? The ease with which a photo can be faked leads me to conclude there are not nearly as many Ferrari owning ´ballers´ out there with whom I have to hustle and grind; but rather a thin veneer of bullshit we have to be rather suspicious about. It is through connection, socialization and the development of interpersonal skills our young people are able to step out into the world and compete, not a life led via the algorithms of social media. Socialisation and connection allows our children and students to see the derivative dirge that AI produces via social media and via the large language models or for what it is, without creative merit and lacking innovation (for now).

It is worth outlining some key areas that socialization for young children helps to develop. As students get older this is compounded and the skills learned initially are rounded and improved.

• Communication Skills
• Emotional Development
• Behavioral Norms and Values
• Conflict Resolution
• Cultural Awareness
• Self-Identity
• Making friends
• Problem-Solving and Creativity
• Adaptability
• Confidence

This is the reason that students have to get up, get out and get on with their academic life. Resiting the urge to take the path of least resistance will create a stronger, happier and more successful student. This starts in kindergarten and carries on well into the world of work. We never stop learning.

There’s no AI in TEAM (ok, there’s an A, but you know what I’m getting at)

Collaborating with others is part of the human experience. We are a social species. Moving towards an information age, how is this being taken from us? How far are we losing the skills we need to operate in the world. Collaboration must remain something we encourage in all of our schools from the very earliest age, however it is something that AI can support and help develop. Recordings or notes from meetings and group work can be put together by AI engines to provide summaries or key takeaways. But this does lean on the perspective of the AI engine and still relies on the constant vigilance of the students working to analyse and interpret the AI generated results of their work.

The greater benefit from teamwork is the collaboration with AI. AI if being used in a teamwork collaboratively needs to be used as a tool in a consultative approach rather than as the end point. The ability to quick fire questions makes AI a perfect sounding board to throw against while working on a problem. Can AI be worked with in this collaborative way? Should we anthropomorphize the platform?

It is not important to see AI as another member of the team, but it is vital, if we are using AI as part of the team dynamic in creation that we understand AI’s capabilities. This allows us to understand what it can and cannot do. For example with a large language model, what are the outcomes, what are they based on: what are the limitations and benefits. Understanding the context will lead to better results, especially if clear objectives of the collaborative process have been decided in advance.

The preparation for the collaboration is also important. What data is being used? High-quality data improves AI performance and accuracy. As does the choice of the right tools for the process you are developing. This could range from simple chatbots and data analytics tools to more complex machine learning models. With our students and children we will often be using simpler models; but these will grow in complexity very quickly.

We then need to define and embrace the human-AI collaboration: especially where AI complements human skills rather than replacing them. Identify tasks where AI can handle repetitive, data-driven tasks, allowing humans to focus on complex decision-making and creative problem-solving. Perhaps then look at the questioning processes and creative processes that large language models can assist with. What then happens is a collaborative mindset that fosters a culture of collaboration between humans and AI. Encouraging open communication, shared learning, and a willingness to experiment with new ways of working between students allows a greater development of the skills in the classroom or at home.

Ultimately, successful collaboration with AI requires a strategic approach that leverages AI’s strengths while acknowledging its limitations. By focusing on clear objectives, effective communication, and a human-centric approach, everyone can harness the power of AI to drive a project. So while AI might not be a conscious member of the team, it is a tool that every member of that team can use to create.

Where do you find your tribe?

“Life’s journey becomes richer when we walk hand in hand, supporting and uplifting one another.” – Oprah Winfrey

“A network of human connections is the foundation on which societies and civilizations are built.” – Tony Robbins

Networking and community cannot happen without people, yet we have been doing this with AI (or at least an algorithm) for many years already. Social media has become the default way to network and meet new clients, providers, friends, collaborators. It is, for students, also a massive distraction. Yet social media can be used in a way that benefits students. LinkedIn has been the most professional of the platforms to emerge over the last few years and with close to a billion users (although many are dormant) there is an opportunity through this platform to connect with a wider community that can assist students and also educators in their work.

In the same way we need context, connection and communication to use Large Language models or generative AI, we should use this process for engaging with social media. Having a plan, an idea about what you want from the platform or application before you start is vital. Also important is your context. IN many cases, reaching out on a platform requires a transaction of sorts: not the one that involves money for photos! You are offering something of yourself, be it professional or personal to others.

We are much stronger together and the use of social platforms can be a line to an online business (anyone familiar with the social media space knows this is the case), but it also creates a broader understanding of the wider world as experienced through others (or at least what they choose to show). Professional platforms are the best established way of doing this, other, more photography focused platforms are about a visual which does not help the seeker of knowledge or experience. But on these platforms are CEOs, academics, activists, a wealth of experience that can be tapped into.

The advantages of Networking are things like opportunity discovery: for children this is a vital part of their formative years. How else are young people able to gain a foothold in the world without the vision of those who have gone before. Seeing through others’ eyes allows our youth to see the world as a broader and more available place. The blinkers, often placed upon them though their education or technology can be torn away by a simple conversation. This doesn’t even have to be an online exchange, but simply the consumption of the material professionals are happily posting.

Knowledge exchange is another advantage through networking and connection which can lead to academic and personal growth as well as resource access and the ability to access ideas and experiences from others that can contribute to problem solving, or give context to the student’s learning journey. The network that we create becomes part of the foundation of our relationships and can in turn become support system in both emotional and more professional ways. The breadth of our network and the experiences of others we draw on can then broaden horizons and give greater international or inter cultural contexts to our view of the world.

The advantage of social media is that it enables all of the positives of networking from the base of a handheld device. We are in a position today, more than ever, to use AI to find our tribe. The tools that connect us can become dangerous if used poorly, and there will always be agents provocateurs or worse, online bullies: however if used well on all platforms there is an opportunity for the brave to seek out and find like minds and like hearts.

Networking and relationship building are essential aspects of personal growth, career development, and business success. They create opportunities for learning, collaboration, support, and innovation, contributing to the overall well-being and achievement of individuals and organizations. They also provide the wealth of human context in our AI future. The myriad perspectives provided by a network of friends, supporters, mentors creates a human context when using AI. As Deepak Chopra says: “In a world of screens, never underestimate the power of a genuine face-to-face connection.”

I mentioned social and emotional development in a previous section, and we have to ask ourselves the question: is this being hampered by AI? The roboticization of society or humanity is a trope beloved by science fiction movies and authors. Issac Asimov, a scientist as well as an author of speculative fiction even designed a required set of rules for any robotic intelligence: the three laws. Appearing first in the 1940s and as part of his short fiction entitled ‘I Robot’ they stated:

First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Asimov later added a “Zeroth Law” as well:

Zeroth Law: A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.

The Zeroth Law takes precedence over the other laws, indicating that the well-being of humanity as a whole is of utmost importance. These laws form a fundamental aspect of Asimov’s fictional universe and have also sparked discussions in real-life ethics and the field of artificial intelligence regarding the potential guidelines for AI systems.

Are they right? I find that when we look at these laws we are very deliberately thinking about physical harm, yet what about educational or generational harm. Do we need a set of inviolable laws for our rapidly accelerating path to General AI? For simple example of the potential harm we can turn back to socialization: while we use AI for education in terms of developing skills, one of the most important skills for all young children, socialization, is perhaps not being mentioned as much. It is all very well for a five year old to have an imaginary friend, but when that imaginary friend can give them advice based on the lines of code that make up a chatbot we have to take stock. The reality is that a chatbot or any form of AI will deliver a response to an emotionally driven question only on the basis of the language, not the emotion.

Social and Emotional Development develops self-awareness, emotional regulation and empathy. With these elements the ability to communicate with each other and to use AI is improved, students expressing themselves more clearly with an understanding of how they feel about a particular topic. It is also a vital part of self regulation when we understand how a topic makes us feel in education: has a poem’s topic thrown us, does a historical event leave us sick to our stomachs? In a learning environment, when students are emotionally safe and secure, they are able to function more creatively. That safety means relationships between students and staff are better and more productive. This understanding allows us to better recognize the value of the information we get and how to better process the problems we face.

Social and emotional development plays a crucial role in fostering personal growth, strengthening relationships, and creating more supportive and cohesive communities. These skills contribute to improved mental health, effective communication, and a higher emotional intelligence: all vital in the information age.

Feedback and Improvement

Can an AI engine feedback personally to a student to encourage a greater effort and attainment. To what extent does the AI feedback create another cog in the machine rather than a back and forth and a self reflective student? Feedback and improvement are essential components of personal growth, academic development, and success. They enable individuals, teams, and schools to learn from their experiences, refine their strategies, and achieve higher levels of performance and innovation. There have been some real advances in the use of AI and feedback:

Automated grading means AI-powered tools can automate the grading process for assignments, quizzes, and exams. Immediate feedback means AI-driven systems can offer instant feedback to students as they complete assignments or assessments, helping them identify mistakes and areas for improvement in real-time. Personalized feedback measures analyze individual student performance data and provide personalized feedback tailored to their strengths, weaknesses. Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology can be used to analyze written assignments and provide detailed feedback on grammar, style, and content. AI can evaluate assignments against predefined rubrics, ensuring consistency in grading and providing students with clear criteria for assessment. AI can aggregate and analyze performance data across assignments and assessments to identify patterns, trends, and areas where the class as a whole might need additional support. AI-driven systems can track students’ progress over time, helping educators monitor their growth and identify any areas of concern. AI can provide insights into how students engage with feedback, helping educators refine their teaching strategies and feedback methods. AI translation tools can assist educators in providing feedback to students who speak different languages, enhancing inclusivity. And this is just the start.

This is where AI starts to come into it’s own. However it is the connection with the directing teacher or leader that will contextualize the feedback in the right way. Reliance on the algorithm will create feedback, but not necessarily reflection and action on the part of the student. This is where the emotional connection and developed safety of the classroom allows us to use these tools to their best end: a reflective student with a supportive network and the guidance of a teacher.

People are the best resource

The information age can blind us to the failures of those we look up to when in fact we should be looking to those failures as much as their successes. Mentors and role models are not always people we like and nor should we. However when we look for examples through a generative AI model we will be met with the examples torn from the most popular examples present across the web.

When we look at AI we need to consider the opportunity offered by it as a tutorial. The availability of data and ways in which we can access and learn from that are truly remarkable; but when we come to mentorship, that is a human need. AI cannot show, through experience, how to develop the ideas that you have, nuance the approach you are taking. Instead for this a person and their experience is required. Whether an AI engine can act in this capacity now or in the future is debatable. It requires a greater knowledge of the person asking the question than an AI engine could grasp, certainly at present. This is where the contextual frameworks of emotional intelligence are able to underpin our decision making and see when we need to move from information to advice based on experiential wisdom. Which leads on to an important principle in education: People are the most important resource.

The most underused academic resource in any community are people. We are anxious around them, we worry about what they think, how they will react: we are all nervous around one another when there is a prize at stake. However Education is, and should always be, a team sport. When you dig into the communities around you there are always people who are very willing to stand up and help those who want to find out more bout themselves and and the world.

I am fond of the innovative human libraries we see pop up. This is a replacement for the communities (the villages) that used to raise our children. In the AI and new information age there is a mirage of omniscience online and this leads young people, children and students, away from those close to them with important lessons to teach. Think about the range of people we have in our communities; not just parents or grandparents, but those born before their grandparents with a completely different perception of the times that they have grown up in.

Perhaps you are close to someone who grew up very far away, or someone who grew up in a conflict zone. The voices of those who speak a different language or have a different faith are part of a connected world and without them there is a no chance of having the context and the framework to make good decisions. Perhaps the people who make decisions regularly should be included in this list: public servants, politicians, soldiers: those who serve, lead and protect.

Over my years as a teacher I have had the privilege to work with some great parents of students. It is in these groups that I found the proof of the need for connection and human interaction on the most complex of matters.

This programme began life as a careers programme in a Scottish boarding school. I was frustrated that there was a lack of opportunity for boys and girls to talk to people about the jobs they hoped to one day go on to have. Careers fairs were a yearly occurance and the opportunity for meaningful discussion was simply not there. I invited parents to come and speak for twenty minutes at a time. They were to answer two questions: what do you do, and why is it great? The programme was a successful in that it provided the careers element that the school was missing and provided a foundation on which to build.

Moving into international education in China I found the parent body was very community driven. Teaching the first year of IB the heart of the History syllabus is a focus on Historiography (the varying perspectives on historical events). Replicating the previous arrangement (if it isn’t broke don’t fix it) Parents were invited by me to volunteer to be part of a series of seminars that sought to explain varied national perspectives on History. The aim being that any parent could attend who had experience of connecting with history in whatever capacity.

The sessions were chaired by a member of the history department and focused on these questions:

• How do you look at the history of your country?

• Who are the heroes – why are they heroes?

• Who are the villains – why are they villains?

• How were you taught to see other countries in school and by your parents?

• Has your view of the past changed as you’ve aged?

The seminars were conversational in nature, the aim being to elicit personal reflections on the study of and witnessing of history. Parents variously witnessed the last days of Imperial Singapore, the first days of partitioned India, the fall of the Berlin Wall and life during the Cultural Revolution. Some of the more interesting contributions were not necessarily from those who had had connections to important places or events, but those whose perspective came from a mixed background, dual citizenship, or had grown up overseas.

They also spoke in ways the students had not considered. The question of Empire for example was split into whether the imperial occupation was constructive or destructive. The issue of the fall of the Berlin wall was looked at through the eyes of a teenager. What did these things actually mean for the people at the heart of the events?

None of these experiences, this knowledge was available online outside the conversations had in those rooms. The opportunity to see through the eyes of another far away lands provided a connection and through that connection greater context for the students´ own education journey.

With the careers sessions my favourite interactions have been quite broad. There was the diamond company CEO, the lawyers and architects; but two stand out for me.

The first, was someone who has had what most teenagers would describe as an exciting life. A musician turned music promoter, they have interacted and worked with some of the biggest names in showbusiness. These types of people are a blessing for students because they are able to pop the bubble of perception very quicjly andvery easily. Yes they have had a rock and roll life, yes they have met everyone at the award shows: however what they do is hard work.

Rather than go through their top hits, their best concerts or their favourite musicians (although hey did confirm that Ed Sheeran is lovely), they talked about the logistics that underpin events. They took the students present through the journey from start to finish and outlined exactly how an event is put together, the profit loss equation, the risks involved, the skills required to manage such a complex undertaking and how they might think about doing the same things.  

A danger of AI, of the information age, is that we are presented with the sterilised, photoshopped, glammed up version of the world. Someone from that world, able to open the eyes and the minds of the students to disabuse them of their false perceptions is a vital tool in helping young people come to conclusions about who they are and where their interests lie.

The second was a Malter. Yup, I didn’t know what that was either. They ran one of the biggest malting processes (as in preparation of grain for the production of alcohol) in the UK. There were only a few students who turned up to what was one of the most instructive and eye opening presentations on careers I had ever seen.

The speaker talked briefly about the process and how they got into it, it was indeed a specialized profession, but they had a general science background. They then pulled out samples of grain, food products and a slide show that brought to life what this small part of the food processing industry actually contributed.

It was obviously eye opening for the students, but it also brought home the idea of breadth. The opportunities they weren’t seeing. In schools we are often faced with students after the age of 14 following a path to become a noun. A lawyer, a doctor, an engineer: these are the desirable nouns that allow students and their families to hold their heads up and feel proud of earning that badge; however the world is far more complex than that and opportunities like this; discussions of minority careers by people who have thrived in them, gives students and young people (even older people) a chance to see the pathways for them that they have yet to discover. It spurs us on to look more closely.

This is a challenge in AI and the information age we must face. The weight of opinion and group think is translated into algorithmic bias quite easily. IN the summer of 2023 asking a simple question about ‘the best careers’ of an AI chat provides healthcare and medicine, technology and IT, engineering, science and research, business and finance, and law at the top of the list. There is no nuance (yet at least) that allows students to dig deeper into the possibilities of the areas that might interest them. That opportunity comes through connection and people. Remember, people are great, they will help you if you ask.

Think about the people in your community. Who are they and what have they done. In every community there is a wealth of experience and of knowledge. The skills needed to thrive in the AI and information age are no longer gate kept by the big institutions and universities, they are skills that we can learn form our neighbours and our friends. People who speak multiple languages, technicians and mechanics, those who have overcome massive obstacles, run and started their lives again, those who see the world in a different way to you and are willing to debate and discuss.  The kind, the wary, the strong and those who look after others: they are all around us and if we only reach out there are lifetimes of experience there to be learned from.

Switching on a computer and asking it a question will give you all the information you could ever need, but as an old mentor said to me: ‘experiential wisdom is the key’. Our understanding of context will allow us to reach out to those around us and create an education that will give us the skills and aptitudes that we need going into the next 20 years, or at the very least a sight of what they might be and how to go out and acquire them for ourselves.

Chapter 4: What we cannot speak of, we must pass over in silence.

The final challenge, the final part of preparation for the AI and information age is to understand communication. One of my heroes is the Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. This is both for his work and for his service: one of the smartest people to ever have lived he spent the majority of World War Two as a porter in an inner city London Hospital, braving the blitz and saving lives. His ideas are a complex attempt to codify the very way in which we communicate. There is a famous line form one of his texts: “the limits of my language are the limits of my world”.

While he was a student and professor of the philosophy of language, I think there are a variety of ways we communicate he did not consider. When we talk about language while we see the words or hear the words, often there are many other parts of that communication that come through what we have already discussed: context, connection; a human element that is often missing from blank text. Our use of language is an attempt to convey meaning, but I very much doubt we communicate with 100% accuracy.

There is a form of literary analysis called CDA (critical Discourse Analysis) that might help illuminate the issue here. CDA is an approach to analyzing written, spoken, or visual language in order to understand the underlying power structures, ideologies, and social dynamics that shape and are shaped by discourse. It aims to uncover hidden meanings, social hierarchies, and the ways language is used to maintain or challenge dominant narratives. This deep dive into meaning becomes very difficult when we rely on a computer-generated voice.

We could take an example from the sermon by Paul B. Bull. It is a sermon from 1917 entitled ‘The Soldier’s Sacrifice’ and was printed during the Great War in a collection of sermons. This is not a unique occurrence and a number of other Bishops and clergymen of various ranks did the same.

In this supreme hour of England’s destiny when she stands before the world as the champion of liberty we must place no limit to our spirit of self sacrifice. The war began with the proclamation of the loftiest spiritual principles of Righteousness and Justice, Liberty and Truth – a note which reawakened the soul of England and made this war a holy war, a real crusade.

The writers view of the world as represented by this discourse is one of very clear definitions in some ways, but not others. The producer is a clergyman and this should be taken into account when looking at the language used. Combined with an understanding of the writer’s position the term ‘spirit of self sacrifice’ has enhanced meaning for example as there are very clear religious undertones to the subject of sacrifice. The use of the term ‘holy war’ before mentioning the ‘crusade’, the relationship between religion and the concept is unavoidable. But there is no enemy mentioned: the concept is vague and unspoken. It is of course in reference to the war being fought, but the foe is an abstraction, the author perhaps afraid to talk about the death of his fellow man.

The author’s ideological stand point is demonstrated by the words chosen and indeed the structure of the second sentence. He claims that the war began with ‘the proclamation of the loftiest spiritual principles of Righteousness and Justice, Liberty and Truth’. The choice of these ideals and their pairing indicates his belief in the justification for war. The material is printed, thus the capitalisation of the principles is correct and indicative of the importance they hold for the author. The author is positioning the audience to accept that ‘Righteousness and Justice’ are conjoined and that without one, the second cannot occur, the same can be said for ‘Liberty and Truth’. The meaning or intentions of the use of these words is not as important as the rhythm with which they are delivered that leads on to the heart of the sentence as it is these principles that ‘reawakened the soul of England’. The author is religious and is using religion to anthropomorphise England in order to bring on side the evidently English audience to his way of thinking. The final clause, ‘a real crusade’, indicates the perspective of the author as it shows he feels that without the religious aspect to the conflict it is not a real crusade. Thus ideologically the author believes that crusade and religion go hand in hand.

As we look towards a future in an information age the way in which we both use and receive language and other forms of communication needs to be considered carefully. When we give license to a computer to form our words, are we losing something or adding something? It is true we have speed on our side, but the complexity of the human experience and the depth to which language must be unpicked leaves us needing a far greater context for our eventual creation or reception of communication.

Learning

When we talk about learning we have to focus on the elements of communication. Plato said that learning was just a process of recollection, weirdly he thought that all knowledge is already within us. Aristotle ‘s idea was based on observation, it was slightly different and he argued we learn by observing things and then we make our ideas based on that observation (he at least agreed we need context).

Once we get to the age of enlightenment people like John Locke talk about knowledge coming solely from experience while Rousseau was pretty similar but advocated for learning environments and suggested that children have natural curiosity (I’m with Rousseau). Once we get to Immanuel Kant it’s all about creating knowledge actively through a construction that we ourselves build. Its only finally when we get to people like John Dewey we really start to see modern ideas of education as he argues for students being able to create their own theories and ideas.

Today, when we talk about learning we are building on everything that has gone before: the ideas of context, connection and communication are all held in the thousands of years we have been developing our ideas. Today, in this information age they become supremely important to create the framework to deal with both the availability of data, but also the difficulty in navigating the interplay between human and computer voices.

Our struggle with the use of AI however is that the algorithms without proper preparation via their prompts, or enough context cannot learn, or create. They reform and repackage. IN the age of AI we need to understand what we are learning for and look at the communication and the use of language through that framework. Why am I here?

How to ask a question

In the age of AI this is going to change. We may actually see our very language alter as we see the increased use of prompts in schools and the workplace. The requirement to specify and refine again and again will make language ever more detail orientated. As a research tool AI allows questions and subsequent refining of that research focus to be refined faster than any other method, it also has its used in that process as we can use AI as a real life sounding board.

There is an advantage in thinking less of AI as a tool, and more of a colleague when you start to really use the generative model to answer questions, as long as those questions can be tailored to become more abstract, more differential to open up different lines of inquiry. Students and teachers can also think about how they alter the speed, variety and strangeness of their questions. The ease with which we can discard a question answer allows us to be more direct with our approach to the use of the tool. We can also get pretty weird with the questions to throw up new possibilities. AI doesn’t have feelings, so there is no quiet, upset, person in the room when a line of questioning doesn’t bear fruit. This can build a culture of exploration that can help students and teachers and parents alike as they progress with their education journey.

AI is a process that while being asked questions about now or the future is using data that is inherently backward looking. This is a weakness of the system that needs to be taken into account by those using any AI program. With this approach is an inherent flaw that must be overcome by the asking of the right question, or the right prompt. Which leads us back to the nature of prompts and how that then changes our approach. This specificity also requires us to have both academic and personal context in order to frame the question in a way that avoids the bias inherent in the system due to the pool of resource from which it draws its generations.

There are any number of guides on line about how to right the correct prompt for AI, however many of them will miss the issue of bias or the echo chamber effect which may, inadvertently, give you just what you were looking for. It is a truth that even the best researcher can be suckered into following the evidence that proves his point rather than the wider picture: but that as well is what the respect for interpretation is about.

How is a good prompt for AI written? The technology is changing too fast for me to give you anything that wouldn’t be out of date by the time I finished the sentence: however I would consider these three areas as a starting point, that relate directly to our three sections:

1. Context: Is the prompt asking for something specific: use an action word. (How, why, what,  when, who, where etc)
2. Connection: Have you contextualized the prompt? Is there enough information in the question to ensure the answer is specific.
3. Communication: Have you outlined how you want your answer?

The reality is that without the first two parts of our discussion: context and connection, you will not be able to communicate effectively with the generative AI model, or assess its outcome. This is especially true if we extend the idea of questioning to research. AI can be a valuable research method, these are just a few of the areas  the more up to date AI models can assist with.

• Literature Review and Information Gathering
• Idea Generation and Brainstorming
• Drafting and Editing
• Data Analysis and Interpretation
• Concept Explanation and Simplification
• Language Translation and Cross-Referencing
• Coding and Programming Help
• Simulation and Modeling
• Ethical Considerations and Literature Ethics
• Presentation and Communication
• Peer Review and Feedback
• Collaboration and Interdisciplinary Research
• Generating Survey Questions and Interviews
• Trend Analysis and Future Directions
• Fact-Checking and Citation Checking

Teaching with AI can be as simple as turning the students loose on it with a set of key criteria. Most of all, remember that you have to connect what it is telling you to what you know and see as part of your personal context.

Going online is killing interpersonal skills

This is the major worry of employers, parents, teachers, politicians. There are a wide variety of skills that are only ever taught in the cracks at school or at home. What do we actually teach when we teach at school?

One example of this is when we talk about mathematics. Many of us will never use quadratic equations, many of us will never use trigonometry, however what we will need to use is those problem solving skills that mathematics so expertly teaches. The classrooms of great schools around the world are full of mathematics teachers teaching problem solving; mathematics just happens to be the medium through which they do it. We could say the same about my own subject of history. History is not a study of kings and Queens or the deep deep past but rather a study of criticism, of analysis, of doubt. It is the study of looking at the past and trying to work out what happened; looking at all the evidence and deciding which you trust and which you do not.

Biology or Chemistry are where we teach our children the scientific method, where we teach our children about process about practise, about experimentation and hypothesis. This is where we give our students the skills they need to succeed in the new world. The teaching of subjects is not an attempt to get pupils to learn material; in the age of Google and AI any fool can look up a piece of data or a fact. The teaching of these subjects is an attempt to give the boys and girls under our care the ability to use that data, the ability to be better.

In between the gaps between assignments and books and facts and dates and new methods we are teaching other things: just I terms of communication I would argue that,

• Effective Communication
• Collaboration and Leadership
• Public Speaking
• Negotiation and Persuasion
• Intercultural Communication
• Networking and Relationship Building
• Cross-Cultural Communication

All come from the classroom, yet there is not a single class that we use to develop these skills specifically: they become part of the greater experience of a contextual, connected, and communicated education.

Public Speaking and Negotiation

We have three subjects that will become part of our lives more than any other from our time at school: music, PE and drama.

Every life has a soundtrack. Music, rhythm, culture and leisure all wrapped up in a single word. We sing in the shower when we are happy, we whistle, we tap out a beat. It is a constant part of the human experience. You have one body. It’s where you live, whether you treat it well or not it is yours to do with as you please. Those lessons from PE at the very beginning: coordination, catching, running, jumping; that turned into team sports and competition, colleagues and teammates, leadership even.

Finally drama. We all play a part. There are different ways of seeing that performance: perhaps like Jacques in ‘As you like it’ you feel that “All the world’s a stage.” Perhaps instead the Japanese proverb is better: that you have three faces (or roles): the face you show the world, the face you show your family and the face you see in the mirror (the truest reflection of all).

This role playing is something that our children and our students get from our behaviour and the environments that we expose them to. We are the models they follow. However it is the public speaking, interaction and the facing of large groups that has been taken away from pupils over the last few years: first by Covid and latterly via hybrid learning. The ability to speak fluently about an idea, and discussing it when challenged, is just as important as being able to write a strong argument.

Public speaking, confidence in being around others is a hard skill to master, but it can be mastered. Environments are important. The active listing and respect developed in a classroom, over the dinner table, between friends, siblings etc is the first stage in preparing a person to be able to speak well and speak publicly. Personally I have struggled with anxiety my whole life: being close to seven feet tall can make one overly aware of others. I have managed to combat that anxiety when speaking because I grew up with that supportive, discursive community first at home, then school and then at university.

Drama, role play, discussion, debate, discursive classes and Socratic teaching all lead to the skills needed to get up and blow them away at a TED conference. There is of course the temptation to get AI to alter the text in order to make that speechmore punchy, more profound, perhaps aping a style seen somewhere else. However this leads less to a better public speaker and more to a poor Barack Obama impression. Self awareness, the context, and an understanding of how the student or speaker delivers words is more important as it will seem far more natural. One of the most important part of public speaking is the flow, the rhythm and the presentation. If they are not your words you will struggle to present them any better than an e mail. What is even more important is the culture it builds, as Russell Brand so eloquently said: “When you speak from your heart, you empower others to do the same.”

What the information age and generative AI won’t give you is the ability to persuade someone you are right. That comes on the back of the skills and aptitudes you have picked up over your education and experiences. It takes first the ability to use data effectively, have critical thinking at your command, to synthesise the data and to come to conclusions against the context of the problem. The next stage is putting that into words. To be persuasive requires more humanity than data however, breaking down some of the aspects of persuasive speakers, they first build rapport with their audience; a genuine connection. Persuasive speakers might speak the language of their audience: maybe a whole new tongue (Nelson Mandela after all said that if you talk to a person in a language they understand that goes to their head; talk to them in their own language and it goes to their heart), maybe they use the details that connect them to their audience more readily. Persuaders also tell compelling stories: but these stories have to be relatable, preferably personal, and true, otherwise trust is broken immediately. Authenticity is key when negotiating and persuading others: it will build credibility.

Multilingualism

Learning another language is like becoming another person according to Haruki Murakami, Charlemagne went one further and compared it to having a second soul. My own view is more like Victor Hugo’s “The man who does not know other languages, unless he is a man of genius, necessarily has deficiencies in his ideas.”

Multilingualism is a luxury according to many who rely on translation apps and the ubiquity of English. It is a truth that a person growing up in an Anglophone environment who speaks more than three language is regarded as close to a witch or something supernatural. The gateway to culture, history, friendship and personal growth is often held in the study of another tongue. The shocking truth is that language learning is on the decline: only a third of the UK can hold a conversation in another language and only 20% of Americans take a language course.

Viorica Marian writes about the broader benefits of multilingualism in her book: ‘The Power of language’. There is evidence that a second or third language delays Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia by four to six years, that it gives children an early understanding that the connection between objects and their names is arbitrary: leading to more developed skills that lay the foundation for even more advanced meta cognitive process and higher order reasoning. Multilingualism improves performance on executive function tasks, making it easier to focus on what matters and ignore what is irrelevant, it enables people to make connections between things in ways that others do not see and results in higher scores on creativity and divergent thinking tasks.

Does the AI and information age herald a new age of language appreciation, or a poorly created homogeneity of English, the terrifying prospect of another tongue being wiped from our consciousness by the handy translate button atop every website. Sadly the truth is that languages are dying, fast. UNESCO, at the last count, rated 2437 languages as in danger. 2437 languages whose nuances, poetry and idiosyncrasies will be forever lost in a new easily translatable modernity. What do we do about that?

In the AI age I would argue that every student should be leaving school with 4 languages (even if one of them is coding). The reliance on an algorithm to bring meaning through translation is a very dangerous precedent to set. There is no nuance or consideration of context, no use of critical thought in the translation process, simply a best fit that will, with the ubiquity of English, create a new series of meanings. Language is an ever-changing thing, a creature that evolves and shifts with time. Are we willing to allow an algorithm to fix meaning, to suspend that development?

The AI age comes with its own new language: coding. Whether python, Java or another technological tongue, these ways of expressing human to computer interaction will become more popular and more important as we progress. Technological communication could however be hampered by the very technology we are seeking to use it with. The power of understanding how to code

AI is able to translate quite effectively, to write in a number of languages and to create code. The understanding of the nuances of technical communication could be lost very quickly as we see prompts given to AI engines to create more and more complex programming outputs.  Much like the command of context and the power of the connections we make, command of language is command of the outcomes we want. Failure to keep the power of that language in the hands of the users of the AI generative process gate keeps that process and lays it in the hands of the AI model rather than the user.

Conclusions

The importance of communication cannot be understated. We have spoken very simply above about the challenges and the needs of the coming years. Peter Drucker said: “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” What we have not touched on is the wide range of ways that we communicate: linguistically, musically, artistically, scientifically, interpersonally, emotionally, culturally, physically… the list could go on. Without our context and communication we will fail to engage these areas.

The danger of AI is a reduction or a restriction in how we deliver our ideas, our authentic selves to the world. If used well this is a tool to enhance creativity, if used poorly it will hamper the output as we race for the bottom and the most likes, shares, reposts we can get by creating that which appeals to the masses, rather than the individual. Innovators have sometimes been jerks, often selfish to a fault, unable to see the wood for the trees. But if there is no advantage to being individual, where is the next Newton coming from, the next Einstein, Camus, William Kamkwamba, or Jack Ma?

What does the future hold?

The long term outcomes of AI are anyone’s guess. The timeline on Artificial General Intelligence is put at anywhere up to a century; however, in the medium term what is clear is that there is a need to properly prepare the youth of today for a world that will not resemble our own.

What is needed is a renaissance, a return to the breadth of education offered in the past: full of arts, languages, history and politics: the natural sciences, mathematics and more. The view I have laid out here is that for the future we need to reimagine the past: the foundations of our education in language: Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric must be changed in the information age to context, connection and communication. A new Trivium for the information age.

In the section on context I have argued above for the increase in a humanities education, in the development of world context, in the skills needed to use information properly when presented, in the development of cynicism when presented with a word intended as gospel. As part of the section on connection I have argued for an increase, not decrease in human connection, a web across the community to ensure that with the advent of AI we do not lose experiential wisdom or personal connection that provides so much. In communication I argue for multilingualism, for an appreciation of context and connection when looking at language, for authenticity as the marker for the future.

Only with this as part of our lives: context, connections and communication skills at the heart of our day to day, will we be able to cope with the storm on the horizon. The information age and generative artificial intelligence will provide a number of new strings to our bows, arrows in our quivers, bullets to our guns. These martial metaphors however only work if we teach this generation and the ones coming what it means to be human, what it means to have built a society from nothing and the painful journeys so many have been on.

Without our memories, without our touchstones, we have nothing to keep us grounded. I worry with the ease provided in the coming technological age our sons and daughters might just float away.

So what is the answer?

Double down. Teach humanity as a subject. Teach European, African, Asian, American and world Studies. Teach languages on the verge of dying out. Teach scientific method and mathematical enquiry. Teach poetry from far off places and dance. Bring people you don’t like and disagree with into the classroom and talk to them with respect. Give children a chance to experience the world through everything they do and build their understanding through people, travel, food, literature, film, and art. Build a context for our young through history and connect them with humanity so when they come into the world as adults they can communicate with it on equal terms and give their children pride in the world they have built so it can be rebuilt again, better, generation by generation.

Good luck out there.

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About the Author

Barry Cooper’s educational career spans 20 years, 3 continents, and 4 prestigious schools in London, Edinburgh, Shanghai and Dubai.

Most recently, he shaped the academic curriculum for the newly launched Brighton College Dubai, while also finding time to create and curate a new Arts festival. Previously he championed the IB Diploma programme for History at Wellington College Shanghai, his first international move after 8 years on the leadership team at leading Scottish boarding school Loretto just outside Edinburgh. He started his career at Epsom College, as teacher of History and a residential Assistant Housemaster.

Barry read History at St Andrews and then took his master’s degree at Stirling with a focus on the historiography of The Crusades. He also has the UK National Professional Qualification for Headship.