One of my mental models for thinking about AI is that before AI, humans were the sole means of personalization, and systems were the means of scale and efficiency. Systems themselves could not capture exceptions that weren’t already defined in the system. But AI now is essentially systematizing personalization, enabling personalization, scale, and efficiency together, which in theory is definitely something that can revolutionize education.
I don’t want to fall into the trap of this lofty thinking becoming an “AI saves all” mentality, but I do see that theoretically it should enable a radical change in how we see education - I’m imagining AI everywhere, not just in the learning process but in the selection of projects for students and the curriculum and in testing!
I’m not suggesting this is desirable based on the quality of LLMs we have access to today but rather trying to conceive of a future where AI did enable full personalization at scale in education.
For example, I wonder if, empowered and emboldened by a technological revolution, standardization in education can be rethought entirely, including curricula and even how we assess what it means to be educated in the first place.
Do we need to fit everyone into the same mould, or can we imagine education that rewards excellence in a wider variety of different paths learners take - made practical via AI tooling?
Taking this to what I think is the logical conclusion, what if all education becomes homeschooling due to AI - parents as the primary oversight guiding the AIs that guide the development of their children to reach their unique potential - as you say homeschooling is the ultimate example of personalization and so perhaps that is where education will go eventually.
Ironically the scary AI revolution may actually end by enabling the most human form of education by empowering parents to teach their kids - or this may be my naive techno-optimism speaking :)
One of my mental models for thinking about AI is that before AI, humans were the sole means of personalization, and systems were the means of scale and efficiency. Systems themselves could not capture exceptions that weren’t already defined in the system. But AI now is essentially systematizing personalization, enabling personalization, scale, and efficiency together, which in theory is definitely something that can revolutionize education.
I don’t want to fall into the trap of this lofty thinking becoming an “AI saves all” mentality, but I do see that theoretically it should enable a radical change in how we see education - I’m imagining AI everywhere, not just in the learning process but in the selection of projects for students and the curriculum and in testing!
I’m not suggesting this is desirable based on the quality of LLMs we have access to today but rather trying to conceive of a future where AI did enable full personalization at scale in education.
For example, I wonder if, empowered and emboldened by a technological revolution, standardization in education can be rethought entirely, including curricula and even how we assess what it means to be educated in the first place.
Do we need to fit everyone into the same mould, or can we imagine education that rewards excellence in a wider variety of different paths learners take - made practical via AI tooling?
Taking this to what I think is the logical conclusion, what if all education becomes homeschooling due to AI - parents as the primary oversight guiding the AIs that guide the development of their children to reach their unique potential - as you say homeschooling is the ultimate example of personalization and so perhaps that is where education will go eventually.
Ironically the scary AI revolution may actually end by enabling the most human form of education by empowering parents to teach their kids - or this may be my naive techno-optimism speaking :)
Great thoughts, Jamie! I liked them so much, I wrote a whole 'nother post around them! https://geekorthodox.substack.com/p/we-should-listen-to-our-sci-fi-prophets