Preparing Students For A Crazy AI World

There is something sad about asking a teenager which of the things they love they’re prepared to give up.We don’t word it like that, of course. We talk about keeping their options open, being realistic, choosing subjects that will lead somewhere. These are sensible conversations.A few years earlier, we encouraged them to be interested in everything. Now there’s an options form to complete, and apparently science and music are competing for the same box.Different education systems bring this moment forward or delay it. Sooner or later, though, plenty of children get the message that growing up means narrowing down.Parents want some reassurance that their children will be able to support themselves. Teachers have courses to teach and examinations to prepare students for. Nobody gets to wave away those responsibilities. But is this mindset limiting our children in this new world? Should we be careful about what we ask children to surrender? Bigger Than A Career ChoiceIn his book Time Enough for Love, Robert A. Heinlein had his character Lazarus Long give this expansive view of human capability:A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.I wouldn’t put all of that on the school timetable. But I like the impatience behind it. A human life ought to contain more than competence at one job.Expertise takes years and children need to experience the frustration of practicing something they cannot yet do well, and the satisfaction of eventually getting better. Broad interests can sit comfortably alongside that commitment. A student can take physics seriously and still care deeply about painting.AI gives us another reason...