A more humane education in the era of artificial intelligence

Should we say goodbye to the exclusivity of human thought?

Artificial Generative Intelligence (AGI) challenges the idea that creativity is the exclusive domain of

homo sapiens

.

Does this represent a new era of human-machine creation or a threat to human originality?

What role should education play?

Although scientific evidence on the impact of artificial intelligence on education is still insufficient, clear examples are emerging today of how this technology can facilitate administrative tasks, as well as offer complementary resources to expand or enrich learning.

This technology is taking accelerated steps.

It has passed its stage of being an infant who listens, sees, speaks, and draws to that of reading and writing, programming, analyzing complex data sheets, integrating reports, speaking countless languages, and responding to many other functions that are constantly emerging from the sector. technological at a remarkable speed.

Its adoption has been at scales and paces never seen before.

In recent research, students enthusiastically describe artificial intelligence as an “external brain.”

However, every disruption generates readjustments.

Governments, at different speeds, adopt new regulatory, guideline and protection frameworks.

Educational institutions publish guidelines and guidance to advise teachers and students.

This is a task as important as it is complex, since it is difficult to offer guides on a technology that we do not fully understand and that is also constantly changing.

Although the opportunities that these technologies offer are visible, it will be important to reflect and debate (before acting) both on those aspects that we do not understand well, and on those matters that we even ignore that we do not know (or that we do not know that we do not know). .

For example: What are the implications of ubiquitously adopting machines that think for us?

What are the effects of automating cognition, and how will this impact the formation of new generations?

Can we dispense with teaching knowledge and skills that are easily automatable?

What happens to data protection and privacy when these machines are programmed to learn and not (unlearn) forget?

Taking into account the extraction of minerals and the carbon footprint that these technologies generate, can we afford to promote IAG if we still know little about its impact on the environment?

And what lessons can we take from previous technological disruptions to avoid widening the enormous gaps that exist between those of us who have access to digital tools and training, and those who do not?

To answer these and other questions, we can interrogate these incorrectly called “intelligent” agents (they lack emotional understanding, self-awareness, or intuition).

However, I suggest that on this occasion we do not miss the opportunity to think for ourselves about how to act with wisdom and foresight to reflect on four critical vectors.

First, provide a technological, connectivity and data infrastructure that is better distributed in different latitudes of the planet (seeing where there is a lack of Internet access can be a good reference point).

Second, governance that is up to the task.

It is not just about publishing a framework document, which is very important.

The necessary guidance, protection, support, coordination and safeguards must also be provided.

It is likely that the institutions that exist today will have to be reviewed (or reinvented), since they were most likely created to operate in a very different paradigm than the current one.

Third, the protection of risks associated with this technology.

More research is essential.

It is essential to develop the ability to monitor and monitor known risks (as well as those we are yet to discover).

The automation of misinformation, manipulation, biases, plagiarism, violation of privacy, among others, we must see not as a new information pandemic, but as an educational agenda to address.

This agenda must be addressed both through regulation and through the training of new jobs and profiles that can face these challenges.

And fourth, the generation of capabilities.

Technologies evolve quickly, but they soon go out of style.

People, on the other hand, have a surprising capacity for adaptation.

Technology that seemed magical to us twelve months ago is just a tool today and we will probably soon stop considering it as disruptive.

But this implies developing new skills both at different educational levels and in citizenship.

For example, review what it means to be literate in this context, what adjustments to make in study plans, as well as in the ways of teaching and applying knowledge.

How do we put this technology at the service of teachers and not the other way around?

In short, embracing without hesitation or controls the disruption posed by the IAG can be as harmful as ignoring or even prohibiting its use.

If we have learned anything in these months of expansion of artificial intelligence, it is that openness and caution have to go hand in hand.

Even as we advance in autonomous vehicles, we cannot navigate into the future without stopping to look at the rearview mirror.

Cristóbal Cobo

is a specialist in Education and Technology for the World Bank.