This past year has seen the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) as a hot topic for education. While it may appear to be new, it has been around for quite some time. Perhaps it has simply found its place at the crossroads of other pressing issues and realities, thereby gaining such prominent focus. It may also be the fear associated with AI’s ability to create fictional yet replicative imagery (i.e. – ‘hallucinations’), music, and human likenesses. Humans are still in control of these phenomena, but unfortunately not all people’s motivations are well-intended. A focus on balancing technological expression with cultural stability and ethics is an ongoing dilemma that must continue to be discussed.
Let’s chat about global priority transfer. Our world is changing. Technology is leveraging opportunity to more people globally than has ever been seen before. Competition is taking on a new form as we see an accelerated digital divide forming. The time to chat is now, what are the skills needed for lifelong learners to succeed and thrive? The World Economic Forum Report on Education gives us a good glimpse into a new mindset and associated workforce training necessary to prepare ourselves for the future. “Generative Pre-Trained Transformer.”
Priority transfer embodies the ongoing process of decompartmentalizing space, expectations, and relics of the past. It affects both the design of the learning environment as well as the pedagogical development and delivery of curriculum. It advocates for leadership to engage not just to satisfy mandates, but to ask the right questions about how to move forward globally into our collective future.
We are moving so fast that sometimes it seems like we are going back-wards. The stroboscopic effect from physics is a good visual aid for the process we are undertaking. It also symbolizes the higher rate and density of information absorption that we are faced with. We are managing pluralism at great speed, in geometric progression forward. However, there is some relief in sight, our brain capacity can now transfer potentially mundane tasks and memorization to AI as a ’remote storage’ unit. If AI takes on 80% of the ‘crunching’, that leaves us to grow the remaining 20% into an expanded and dynamically moving new 100%.
With all this talk of information crunch and intellectualism, it is good to step back and simplify for a moment. Take out all the tech and focus on passion, emotion, and basic humanity. We are in control of what we create, so long as we develop wisdom through leadership and ethical management of future possibilities. With every great innovation comes an equal chance for catastrophe.
Fundamental comfort, be it physical, emotional, or cultural, is the goal of our pursuits. This impacts the design of the built environment, as well as strategies to advance AI to help find a cure for cancer, to replicate digitally the human body for advances in science, pharmaceuticals development, and operative technology. We all need a break in between moments of intense focus and intellectual engagement to connect to one another and to our deeper more instinctive selves. Innovative spaces and learning environments that both comfort and challenge us foster curiosity and exploration for all learners, be they students, teachers, or somewhere in between.
Planning for the future is about racing ahead, but while in that movement, remembering the simple things. Taking moments of rest and reflection, maintaining order and a comfortable stasis. Equilibrium helps us be productive yet empathetic, able to explore but also able to relax and simply enjoy the simplicity of life in the moment. Love of place, contentment, the willingness to engage, all these things contribute to the ability to learn. After learning comes sharing, the exchange back and forth between us and others. Forge ahead in virtual reality, but always remain in-person and aware of the difference. Personalization in the wake of artificial anonymity. Rely on culture to motivate collaborative exchange and a positive path forward.
Dr. Kusum Sinha is a contributor to this article. Dr. Sinha has been the Superintendent of Garden City Public Schools in Garden City, New York since July 2018. Student learning has been the focus of her tenure, redefining how space is developed and used to support teaching and learning has been her thoughtful and intentional exploration.
For more information about this article, please contact Kevin J. Walsh, AIA, ALEP, LEED AP, Partner at BBS Architects, Landscape Architects & Engineers at walsh@bbsarch.com and 631.475.0349. BBS is a NYSCOSS partner and an award-winning, multi-disciplined design practice, specializing in P-12 Architecture. BBS have advanced expertise in educational programming trends and SED building aid maximization.