Such an important post, Ryan. I'm grateful that your creative spirit keeps finding fresh vistas for change in the midst of all the tides of un-learning in education. May your voice and re-visioning be heard.
Thank you Carol, I'm grateful for your blessing and your encouragement. Change will take a tribe, then a village, then a movement, … many small people with small roles making big change.
What an exciting time as we witness the transition from the Age of Schooling to the Age of Learning! Finally we have the tools to do help usher in the changes we've been dreaming about! I wrote a recent piece called "What If . . . ?" What if education were not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire! I think AI is the matchbox.
I agree. I'm an unreasonable optimist, always believing that people will change even when all signs indicate they won't. Perhaps, this is the catalyst that will tip the balance from business as usual into transformation. The thing with lighting fires is that they spread quickly! Extending Plutarch's metaphor, I strive to be an educational arson.
Thank you for sharing your encouraging thoughts. I'll check out your Post.
I'm excited about what's coming and am trying to be thoughtful about the best way to help my kids understand the value of the act of learning and the possibilities it opens up. Love your approach to this topic!
To be frank, AI scares me. It has SO much potential for transformation, and it needs to be midwifed carefully, directed towards life-serving enterprises and forms. I don’t think our current culture is ready for that responsibility.
It’s here, though. I’ve been trying to, slowly, make more effort to understand it. As someone happiest with their hands in the dirt, I tend to be a little slow to pick up new tech.
I’m worried about our abilities to reshape schools without them absolutely collapsing first. In the US I feel like our education system *is* collapsing. As a parent, it’s nerve-wracking, and troubling. I see how I want my children educated, but short of homeschooling (which would be particularly stressful with our set of personalities), or starting a school myself (something I’ve considered, but find daunting and frankly, I’d rather farm), I’m not sure how to get them that education.
As always, I appreciate your thoughtful consideration. We desperately need these discussions to help open the door toward something new!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Like yourself, I am profoundly connected to the soil, water, and skies; the soil has been my scholarship, career, and passion. I am so frustrated by the loveless way it is treated - I simply don't understand how others see 'dirt' where I see magic.
It is my deep hope that AI can help us to restore the systems we have broken back to health. I also see it reshaping education in the most beautiful ways. We simply have to find the courage to change, away from what is not working into abundance for all life.
It certainly has that potential… what I fear is more likely in our current cultural environment is AI destroying trust in any information technology. How can we trust information sharing when videos can be convincingly faked, and AI could be used to fabricate valid seeming data or articles with overwhelming speed or abundance? Then there is the energy and water usage issues. But the dissolution of public trust is what concerns me most in the short to medium term with AI. I fear we may go back to an era where we can only trust what we directly experience ourselves to be true. In the wrong hands, AI is an unmatchable propaganda machine. There are already conversations in the foraging world about dangerous AI-created foraging books containing deadly misinformation.
We are certainly alive in interesting times! I also have a vast amount of hope toward a much healthier future, and fears about the pain we likely have to walk through to get there.
As always, appreciate your thoughts. They definitely resonate.
I agree that the potency of our tools will transform our societies. I like to think of AI as a pre-pre-frontal cortex that amplifies our cognitive abilities. The problem is not the tool but the people who wield it.
The world is becoming more terrifying and more wonderful because terrible and wonderful ideas are being amplified through our incredible tools. Humans need to evolve the qualities of their minds and hearts, and I see education as the tool to do this. The challenge is, most people do not change unless they are confronted by crisis, which is sure to come.
I've heard conversations about short-term dystopia followed by long-term utopia. I prefer the concept of protopia, evolution in iterations. I'm the optimist's optimist, but I also see dark clouds on the horizon. No matter what, it won't be boring.
Such an important post, Ryan. I'm grateful that your creative spirit keeps finding fresh vistas for change in the midst of all the tides of un-learning in education. May your voice and re-visioning be heard.
Thank you Carol, I'm grateful for your blessing and your encouragement. Change will take a tribe, then a village, then a movement, … many small people with small roles making big change.
What an exciting time as we witness the transition from the Age of Schooling to the Age of Learning! Finally we have the tools to do help usher in the changes we've been dreaming about! I wrote a recent piece called "What If . . . ?" What if education were not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire! I think AI is the matchbox.
I agree. I'm an unreasonable optimist, always believing that people will change even when all signs indicate they won't. Perhaps, this is the catalyst that will tip the balance from business as usual into transformation. The thing with lighting fires is that they spread quickly! Extending Plutarch's metaphor, I strive to be an educational arson.
Thank you for sharing your encouraging thoughts. I'll check out your Post.
Yes, yes, and yes.
I'm excited about what's coming and am trying to be thoughtful about the best way to help my kids understand the value of the act of learning and the possibilities it opens up. Love your approach to this topic!
Thank you Kyle,
I find this exciting too. I really believe we need to rethink the why and how of learning in schools. I appreciate your encouragement.
To be frank, AI scares me. It has SO much potential for transformation, and it needs to be midwifed carefully, directed towards life-serving enterprises and forms. I don’t think our current culture is ready for that responsibility.
It’s here, though. I’ve been trying to, slowly, make more effort to understand it. As someone happiest with their hands in the dirt, I tend to be a little slow to pick up new tech.
I’m worried about our abilities to reshape schools without them absolutely collapsing first. In the US I feel like our education system *is* collapsing. As a parent, it’s nerve-wracking, and troubling. I see how I want my children educated, but short of homeschooling (which would be particularly stressful with our set of personalities), or starting a school myself (something I’ve considered, but find daunting and frankly, I’d rather farm), I’m not sure how to get them that education.
As always, I appreciate your thoughtful consideration. We desperately need these discussions to help open the door toward something new!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Like yourself, I am profoundly connected to the soil, water, and skies; the soil has been my scholarship, career, and passion. I am so frustrated by the loveless way it is treated - I simply don't understand how others see 'dirt' where I see magic.
It is my deep hope that AI can help us to restore the systems we have broken back to health. I also see it reshaping education in the most beautiful ways. We simply have to find the courage to change, away from what is not working into abundance for all life.
It certainly has that potential… what I fear is more likely in our current cultural environment is AI destroying trust in any information technology. How can we trust information sharing when videos can be convincingly faked, and AI could be used to fabricate valid seeming data or articles with overwhelming speed or abundance? Then there is the energy and water usage issues. But the dissolution of public trust is what concerns me most in the short to medium term with AI. I fear we may go back to an era where we can only trust what we directly experience ourselves to be true. In the wrong hands, AI is an unmatchable propaganda machine. There are already conversations in the foraging world about dangerous AI-created foraging books containing deadly misinformation.
We are certainly alive in interesting times! I also have a vast amount of hope toward a much healthier future, and fears about the pain we likely have to walk through to get there.
As always, appreciate your thoughts. They definitely resonate.
I agree that the potency of our tools will transform our societies. I like to think of AI as a pre-pre-frontal cortex that amplifies our cognitive abilities. The problem is not the tool but the people who wield it.
The world is becoming more terrifying and more wonderful because terrible and wonderful ideas are being amplified through our incredible tools. Humans need to evolve the qualities of their minds and hearts, and I see education as the tool to do this. The challenge is, most people do not change unless they are confronted by crisis, which is sure to come.
I've heard conversations about short-term dystopia followed by long-term utopia. I prefer the concept of protopia, evolution in iterations. I'm the optimist's optimist, but I also see dark clouds on the horizon. No matter what, it won't be boring.