Technological innovations have a terrible habit of messing with our minds. I’m not old enough to remember the invention of the printing press, but by all accounts there was widespread fear and resistance—it was a threat to established religious and political authority, and would likely lead to all manner of social upheaval. It did, of course, and humanity is all the better for it.
I do remember the alarm that accompanied the introduction of calculators (“The kids won’t learn the times-table!”) and then personal computers (“The kids won’t learn spelling or penmanship!”) The more a technological innovation disrupts and revolutionizes the existing order, the more unease and confusion it generates. It’s understandable, but unnecessary as well. Think of these moments as an opportunity, not a curse—if a steam drill can cut a tunnel, what work are we freed up to do now? If a machine can do multiplication, how might we release our mathematical imaginations?
Artificial Intelligence is with us now, and it’s here to stay. Educators can bury their heads in the sand, or run into the streets sounding the alarm, but that won’t change the fact of AI in our lives. A smart alternative to alarm and panic is to pick up a copy of the AI Blueprint for Schools by Katie Page. With her wise guidance you can face reality, ask the big questions—What does it mean to be human in the 21st Century? Where are we on the clock of the universe?—and bring this powerful resource into your teacher toolkit while humming along with the alt-rock group R.E.M.: It’s the end of the world as we know it/
And I feel fine.
Bill Ayers 