07 Jul Molding Minds in the Age of AI: A Tale of Two Educational Systems – thoughts after reading “Twin Sparrows”
As a child growing up in China, the essence of my schooling was deeply entrenched in competition. My academic journey was a constant race – against time, against peers, and more profoundly, against myself. It was a relentless pursuit of grades and accolades, a perpetual cycle of learning and regurgitating, a ceaseless marathon with no finish line in sight.
The educational system in China is heavily influenced by the Confucian value of education as a critical instrument for upward mobility. There is a vast emphasis on standardization, memorization, and high-stakes testing, a culture that eventually fosters a highly competitive environment. However, despite the myriad benefits of such a structured system, it harbored an environment I admittedly despised.
When I migrated to Canada for my further studies, I found myself thrust into a remarkably different educational milieu. The Canadian education system was less about competition and more about fostering self-awareness, critical thinking, and creativity. The shift was not just a change of scenery; it was an entire reorientation of my perspective on education. I moved from a world obsessed with winning to an environment that focused on learning, understanding, and personal growth.
I developed a passion for sociology during my years in Canada, which provided a lens to view and analyze these educational systems, particularly in the context of burgeoning AI-driven education. The emergence of AI in education promises personalization, increased efficiency, and accessible learning resources. However, my journey through two distinct educational cultures brought me to the realization that AI, in its current state, might be inadequate to cater to the complexities of human learning and personal development.
I had a chance ready a story from book AI 2041 lately, “Twin Sparrows” is a story set in the future at Fountainhead Academy in South Korea where children can design their own AI friend that serves as their tutor, teacher, and guide. The focus of the story are orphaned twins, Golden Sparrow and Silver Sparrow, with contrasting personalities and learning styles, who are adopted by two different families with different values and approaches to education.
Golden Sparrow, who is competitive and precocious, creates an AI tutor, Atoman, that uses gamification to motivate him. He is adopted by the Pak family who believe in using technology to its fullest to ensure their children’s success. Consequently, they continually adjust Atoman to challenge Golden Sparrow further.
Silver Sparrow, who is on the autism spectrum with extraordinary artistic abilities, creates an amorphous AI tutor, Solaris. He is adopted by Andres and Rei, a transgender couple who focus on nourishing his creativity and use technology as a part of his overall education rather than relying on it entirely.
The story explores the potential of AI in education, demonstrating its ability to provide personalized and customizable learning experiences, while highlighting the role of human teachers in stimulating critical thinking, creativity, empathy, and teamwork among students. At the same time, it warns of the possible drawbacks of such a system when it’s used to overly emphasize competition, achievement, and performance, leading to a diminishing of people skills and the neglect of personal growth and happiness. The story ends with the AI friends reuniting the twins after years of separation, reflecting early tech optimism that technology can foster human connection.
I believe the cornerstone of human learning is abstract thinking – the ability to understand concepts that are not rooted in the physical world. It involves creativity, empathy, and the capacity to see beyond the obvious. My qurestion is, Can an AI, trained on datasets and algorithms, genuinely understand or teach the depth of abstract concepts such as justice, love, or freedom? Can it ignite a spark of creative thinking in a young mind or teach the nuances of empathetic communication?
AI may lacks another critical human attribute – common sense. While humans can easily understand everyday knowledge and assumptions about the world, AI struggles to grasp these inherent understandings that we take for granted. If a critical part of education is to hone common sense and intuitive understanding of the world around us, the role of AI becomes questionable.
Furthermore, an AI system, as competent as it may be, cannot replace the emotional depth of human interaction. A teacher is more than a knowledge facilitator; they inspire, encourage, comfort, and instill a love for learning. In my experience, this emotional connect, the joy of shared discovery, and the comfort of empathetic guidance in times of confusion or stress, all pivotal to the educational journey, cannot be simply replicated by AI.
In essence, while AI in education has the potential to revolutionize the learning experience, it is crucial to remember that education is not just about imparting knowledge or skills but nurturing emotionally intelligent, creative, empathetic individuals. Both Chinese and Canadian educational systems, despite their differences, have this at their core – something an AI-driven education should strive to emulate and preserve.
In a world increasingly leaning towards AI-driven solutions, it is crucial to strike a balance, one that effectively harnesses the advantages of AI but does not compromise the uniquely human aspects of education. After all, the objective of education is not just to create good students but to nurture good human beings.
One quote I love from the book
Children need to raise their self-awareness through inward exploration, cultivating empathy, communication, and other soft skills that would nurture deeper connections with one another and increase their emotional intelligence.
In conclusion, it is clear that the advent of AI in education presents a paradigm shift, offering unprecedented opportunities for personalized learning experiences and efficiency. It has the potential to transcend geographical and socio-economic barriers, democratizing education in ways previously unimaginable. Moreover, AI can facilitate targeted learning, identifying and catering to the unique strengths and weaknesses of each student, something that traditional classroom settings may sometimes struggle with.
However, amidst these advancements, it is paramount to remember that education is not merely a transaction of information or skills but a holistic process that shapes an individual. The human elements – empathy, abstract thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence – these are attributes that make us uniquely human. While AI can guide and teach, it might be a long while before it can inspire a young mind to think out of the box, to understand and respect the complexities of human emotions, or to appreciate the nuances of abstract concepts like justice or love.
As we march forward in the age of AI, the challenge lies not in completely replacing human-led education with AI, but in creating an environment where they coexist, complementing each other. It is about combining the personalized efficiency of AI with the emotional depth of human interaction, to foster not just intelligent, but emotionally mature and creative individuals.
Indeed, as we strive to create a future that leverages AI’s potential, we must ensure that we do not lose the essence of what makes us human. Our journey in education, be it in China, Canada, or any part of the world, must constantly be underpinned by this quest for balance.
Thus, while we empower our AI to learn and teach, let us also empower our young minds to explore, to feel, to question, and to connect. For it is in this harmony of technological advancement and human essence that the true spirit of education lies.