Dear Marco, very thoughtful as usual. AI is in its infancy at this time. For being the result of a few years development is quite amazing what it delivers already. More striking is the exponential improvements it seems to be achieving. Therefore it is not unreasonable to assume AI as we know it now may be something very primitive compared to what it might look like just in a decade or so from now. Since humans are slow learners and the schooling time is inevitably measured in a couple of decades, the choices Gen Z are making about their education may very much be dramatically challenged by the emergence of next generations AI. Yet in times of uncertainty a well educated human will still have better chances of survival than an ill educated one. My 2 cents are that for humans to stay relevant we will need to literally physically merge with AI and robots in the coming years.
This opens huge moral and practical questions which our children shall face and attempt to answer. A very good friend of mine once told me not to worry too much, since no older generation was ever capable of solving the next generation challenges, but each new generation will be naturally capable of finding solutions to problems we cannot even begin to solve with our boomer’s mind set! Let’s hope this will be the case. Ciao
Dear Luigi, thank you, and your comment is more thoughtful than the post. You are right that the technology is evolving rapidly, and ten years from now it might pose challenges that today are impossible to imagine. I share your optimism that new generations will successfully meet these challenges -- provided they keep their skills sharp and do not fall into the trap of letting AI provide all the answers. Also, you are right that the education choices young people make now are made under enormous uncertainty. But they/we should keep in mind two things, in my opinion. First, that the skills that are useful and in demand today might remain so for a lot longer than we expect -- self-driving cars were expected to be ubiquitous ten years ago, and we're not even close. Second, that in this uncertainty, the skills most useful today (especially STEM, critical thinking, creativity) are our best bet for the future. The bet might turn out to be wrong, but that's where I would place my chips. But as you said, we are in the lucky position of just offering advice -- the younger generations are the ones who will have to deal with the reality of progress. Ciao -- Marco
Dear Marco, very thoughtful as usual. AI is in its infancy at this time. For being the result of a few years development is quite amazing what it delivers already. More striking is the exponential improvements it seems to be achieving. Therefore it is not unreasonable to assume AI as we know it now may be something very primitive compared to what it might look like just in a decade or so from now. Since humans are slow learners and the schooling time is inevitably measured in a couple of decades, the choices Gen Z are making about their education may very much be dramatically challenged by the emergence of next generations AI. Yet in times of uncertainty a well educated human will still have better chances of survival than an ill educated one. My 2 cents are that for humans to stay relevant we will need to literally physically merge with AI and robots in the coming years.
This opens huge moral and practical questions which our children shall face and attempt to answer. A very good friend of mine once told me not to worry too much, since no older generation was ever capable of solving the next generation challenges, but each new generation will be naturally capable of finding solutions to problems we cannot even begin to solve with our boomer’s mind set! Let’s hope this will be the case. Ciao
Luigi
Dear Luigi, thank you, and your comment is more thoughtful than the post. You are right that the technology is evolving rapidly, and ten years from now it might pose challenges that today are impossible to imagine. I share your optimism that new generations will successfully meet these challenges -- provided they keep their skills sharp and do not fall into the trap of letting AI provide all the answers. Also, you are right that the education choices young people make now are made under enormous uncertainty. But they/we should keep in mind two things, in my opinion. First, that the skills that are useful and in demand today might remain so for a lot longer than we expect -- self-driving cars were expected to be ubiquitous ten years ago, and we're not even close. Second, that in this uncertainty, the skills most useful today (especially STEM, critical thinking, creativity) are our best bet for the future. The bet might turn out to be wrong, but that's where I would place my chips. But as you said, we are in the lucky position of just offering advice -- the younger generations are the ones who will have to deal with the reality of progress. Ciao -- Marco