Times Have Changed

The advent of generative artificial intelligence is a turning point in technological development, similar to hearing the roar of an F1 race car for a while without seeing it, until ChatGPT appeared, turning the corner and coming into full view. ChatGPT heralds a wave of new technologies and scientific advancements, paving the way for further innovations in fields like genetic engineering, neuroscience, brain-computer interfaces, new energy sources, superconducting materials, and AI-led technological discoveries. This powerful technology has led some to worry about it surpassing human intelligence and result in out-of-control, potentially rendering humans obsolete. This concern is unprecedented in history, thus, we can see how impactful it is.

A key insight from personal use of ChatGPT is that, the bottleneck as an AI citizen often lies in one’s imagination and ability to ask high-quality questions. This strongly suggests a urgent need for adjustments in education for the AI era, since the turning of education have a years of delay to be reflected in the society/production.

Returning to the theme of this blog, the rapid and unexpected arrival of this “race car” has caught many of us off guard, prompting a need to reflect on how we can adapt to this new era, especially in the context of children’s education, given the critical role of childhood in developing abilities and personality traits, a central theme of this book.

What Our Education Does Not Need in the Age of AI

To know what we do not need is equally (if not more) important than to know what we need. So lets start with what we do not need.

Each technological advancement in human history has liberated us from our own human body limitations. The steam engine revolution of the late 18th century freed us from manual labor. The electrical revolution of the 1870s partially liberated us in terms of long-distance communication, like telephones and phonographs. The information technology revolution, especially the internet, further emancipated us from the constraints of information storage and access, drastically reducing our need for memorization. The AI era, built on the internet’s big data and computational power, has made information and knowledge acquisition even more convenient. Everything is changing rapidly, and we cannot predict what AI might bring us next month or next year, increasing the demand for solving technological and societal problems, which is precisely the goal of general education.

What Should Our Education Bring to Children in the AI Era?

“Be extensively knowledgeable, ask carefully, think critically, discern clearly, and practice diligently.” a saying from China.

General Education

General education emphasizes “guidance” rather than “teaching.” It offers a variety of choices, allowing students to grow freely and naturally through diverse options, rather than through purpose-driven, subject-specific education. Additionally, general education is a form of liberal arts education that values personal interest over utilitarianism and practicality, focusing on developing individual personality and critical thinking skills. While general education is commonly associated with universities, it should be introduced to children as soon as they are capable of understanding (we often underestimate children’s comprehension), preparing them for early exposure to the world, self-awareness, and their connection to the world. The sooner this foundation is laid, the better for their personal development and cognitive abilities, with compounding benefits.

In the AI era, general education is particularly relevant. AI can automate many routine and repetitive tasks and bridge gaps between different disciplines. Without AI, someone might need years to learn basic graphic design, but with AI, they could grasp the principles within weeks through interaction and complete a decent design by sending instructions or using software. In less creative scenarios, even a novice can achieve a design through effective communication with the machine. Society’s demand for specialists has decreased (but not disappeared), highlighting the need for individuals with strong learning abilities, interdisciplinary skills, and creative problem-solving.

Communication Skills

The importance of communication skills is evident in many aspects. First, while AI is powerful in certain areas, it still falls short in communication, especially in terms of empathy and human understanding. Second, many jobs replaced by AI still require human-to-human and human-to-machine communication, which machines cannot replicate. A person’s success largely depends on their communication skills, which are best developed during childhood and adolescence. From an early age, children should consciously practice expressing their feelings, accurately describing what they see, hear, touch, and feel, understanding others’ words, and interpreting their non-verbal cues. Developing a habit of effective communication and the ability to do so skillfully will benefit them for life.

In the AI era, the ability to collaborate and communicate with machines will become a basic literacy for citizens. In the 80s and 90s, interaction with machines was through professional training and terminal programs; in the 2000s and 2010s, it was through graphical software interfaces; and post-2020, it’s trending towards natural language and even video interactions, as if conversing with a distant sage. The trend is towards simpler use of machines with less need for specialized knowledge, but the demand for communication skills remains unchanged. Being able to express needs accurately, articulate logically, and quickly understand others through text and speech is crucial.

Imagination and Creativity

Imagination, the ability to create new images and relationships based on real perceptions, and creativity, are invaluable skills. Einstein once said imagination is more important than knowledge because knowledge is limited, whereas imagination drives progress and is the source of knowledge evolution. In today’s rapidly advancing AI landscape, imagination and creativity are especially crucial. While AI can answer any question about Harry Potter, summarize or even continue the story, it cannot create Harry Potter because it lacks the creative genius of J.K. Rowling, a hallmark of human imagination.

Addressing how to better utilize AI along the path humans desire, and how to constrain it when necessary, requires imaginative and creative solutions to technological and societal challenges. The best approach is to start from childhood, fostering imagination and creativity through engaging, diverse, immersive environments. Additionally, building children’s confidence and critical thinking skills is essential for imagination and creativity. Educators should focus more on these aspects, rather than simply imparting “correct” knowledge, which may be efficient in the short term (for exams or memorization) but is ineffective or even counterproductive in the long term in the AI era. Instead, educators should deconstruct knowledge, clarify concepts, demonstrate possibilities, critique existing methods, and seek faster solutions, encouraging children to connect, experiment, and express themselves. This approach allows them to experience the joy of exploring knowledge, discover new insights, and build self-confidence, cultivating a habit of thinking that will benefit them throughout their lives.

In the past, physical labor was essential for most tasks, but the industrial revolution eliminated this necessity, making fitness more about health and aesthetics than work requirements. Today, with the support of the internet and AI, we don’t need to memorize vast amounts of information for our jobs. However, our education system and many outdated concepts still focus on memorization. While having a good memory is beneficial, like having well-developed muscles, the emphasis should not be on whether one has memorized a lot of information but on whether one has the skills (communication, understanding, creativity, etc.) to effectively use readily available knowledge and tools to excel in projects and enjoy life confidently.

Thus, our education should not focus on providing what machines (mechanical, electronic, intelligent) already offer. In the current context, education should not be about memorization for the sake of memorization, just as we use calculators instead of learning tricks for solving five-digit multiplication and division problems (unless the goal is to perform such calculations mentally).

Why is Language Learning Exceptionally Important?

Human development has been propelled by several forces related to the dissemination of knowledge. The invention of paper freed humanity from the limitations of oral transmission, allowing more people to access knowledge; the internet (especially search technology) further liberated access to knowledge, enabling ordinary people to acquire knowledge millions of times more efficiently than with paper; and current generative AI further facilitates knowledge acquisition and derivation. In this era of accelerated knowledge generation and easy access, what remains constant are human-specific thinking, creativity, imagination, and communication skills. What is the common medium for these abilities?

Language is the medium for human thought! Knowledge encoding and decoding, as well as logical relationships, are embedded in language. We use language to think, imagine, and create through various concepts and relationships. This is why the first revolutionary AI models were large language models, not mathematical or other types of models. Human civilization’s accumulation of philosophy, mathematics, physics, history, and art over millennia, including contributions from geniuses and top thinkers like Aristotle, Nietzsche, Confucius, Galileo, and Einstein, is embedded in countless books and online content.

This explains why large language models trained on human text can be applied to seemingly unrelated fields like music, image processing, and genetic sequencing.

When we talk about language learning, we often think narrowly of learning the words and sentences of a language, but it’s much more than that. Sometimes we expand it to include culture and history, but even that is not enough. Most importantly, through language learning and reading, we learn about concepts and relationships between interesting things that exist (not necessarily nearby) or are imagined. Through interactive learning, we learn to ask ourselves and others questions, answer questions, and naturally learn to communicate and understand humanity. Positive feedback from teachers and peers builds confidence in students, who through diverse information sources (different types of knowledge, picture books) learn to critically understand the world and foster imagination.

So, when we talk about truly learning a language, we’re building an early foundation for general education, boosting children’s confidence, communication skills, comprehension, and creativity. Learning words and vocabulary is just a small byproduct of this process.