Page 4 - THE Journal, March/April 2018

Editor’sNote David Nagel, Editor-in-Chief
AI, Education and Wthe Future of Everything
WE’RE AT ONE OF THOSE histori- reading, at least to some extent, isn’t all hu-
cal intersections between technology and civ- man anymore.
ilization in which civilization will be altered (Unfortunately, I did not have an AI
forever by developments that are already handy to write this column for me, although
underway. Some refer to this as the “fourth we are currently working to augmentgou: r 1 1 0 b: 146
industrial revolution,” as Keith Kreuger does editorial efforts with artificial intelligence, so in his column on page 24, others the “fourth maybe for the May/June issue!)
wave of technology, as futurist Michio Kaku Now, on to the big question: Will teachers does (more on him later). be replaced by AI? At the ISTE conference
To summarize: Between the advent two years ago, opening keynoter Michio and widespread adoption of both AI and Kaku assured teachers that they would
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robotics, a moderate peek into the not-too- distant future reveals a world that would have been unthinkable just
decades ago except in the
most fanciful science fiction, a
world in which automation is
everywhere, from self-driving
cars to automated security
systems to self-service medical
treatment — a world in which
indeed most human beings
don’t need to work for a living
because automation will take
care of the work for us. (Forward-thinking people are already contemplating how to implement universal basic income — that is, income human beings receive while AIs or robots do their work for them.)
But human beings will always be needed for some tasks, right? I mean, surely the cre- ative professions will be spared, won’t they? Musicians? Artists? Writers? Well, as some of you know, AIs are already writing music. And they’re constructing works of art. Some have co-written novels (one of which passed a first round in a Japanese literary contest two years ago). And even news organizations are getting in on the act. You probably don’t even know that some of the news you read is at least partially written by an AI, but it is — whether it’s an AI analyzing data for a story or filling in the text around a set of scores in a report about a basketball game, what you’re
be immune. Every other sector would be impacted by AI, but not teaching. Teachers
are needed. Why? Well, I suspect it was
because he was addressing an audience of K–12 teachers and didn’t want to get booed off the stage. But that’s pos- sibly just my cynicism.
The reality is education is already being impacted by AI in and out of the classroom, from administrative tools like
predictive analytics to teaching and learning tools that help interpret students’ work.
Now, that’s not about replacing teachers outright. It’s about augmenting the teaching profession. It’s about making teachers more effective. Is that what it will always be?
The answer to that will have to do
more with policy than with technological capabilities. There are those who couldn’t envision a world without campuses and school buildings and classes of 30 to
35 students sitting at their desks being instructed by teachers. And there are those who can’t imagine that scenario continuing much longer. Whichever way things go, the outcome will be upheaval — in education as in all aspects of our lives.
To continue the conversation, e-mail me at dnagel@1105media.com.
thejournal.com
March/April 2018 : Volume 45, No. 2
Editorial Advisory Board
Elisa Carlson
Director of Instruction, Curriculum and Innovation, Surrey Schools (British Columbia, Canada)
Julie Evans
Chief Executive Officer, Project Tomorrow
Geoffrey H. Fletcher
Private Consultant
Ann Flynn
Director of Education Technology & State Association Services, National School Boards Association
Phil Hardin
Director of Project IMPACT, Iredell-Statesville School System (NC)
Christopher Harris
Coordinator, School Library System, Genesee Valley Educational Partnership (NY)
Cathy Hutchins
Principal, South Woods Elementary School, St. John’s County School District (FL)
Thomas C. Murray
Director of Innovation, Future Ready Schools, Alliance for Excellent Education
Erin Wilkey Oh
Executive Editor, Education Marketing, Common Sense Education
Mark Stevens
General Manager, NEA Academy
Donna Teuber
Team Leader for Technology Integration, Richland School District Two (SC)