The point that current system is transformatiive and leads through a maize of concepts which lead to metamorphosis that may evolve some one to sports person or musician or scientist which may not be possible in AI Alpha schools.
I remember a teacher who use to deliberately tale wrong path while solving a problem to fire students imagination.
"When you train for performance, you lose the space to wonder."
With growing competition, especially in India at grade 12th level for IIT JEE and advanced, many students while learning the basics of subjects like Physics and Mathematics do not get enough headspace to explore, wonder, inquire, ponder upon "why things are they way they are" and "their deeper meaning". Their goal, due to demand and nature of examinations, is to train for performance (speed of calculations) and not aim to solve or approach the same problems with a novel standpoint. It is disheartening to see students not getting opportunity to think deeply and ponder about ideas.
Thanks for writing this Nisheeth! I very much enjoyed it and it has forced me to think more on this topic.
The two things I keep coming back to are “friction is failure” and the sense of community you have addressed in this piece.
Regarding the first point, I’ve been thinking about how it applies not only to education but many aspects of my life. With the conveniences of modern life I’ve found myself becoming less gracious and patient. When something is not smooth I find myself becoming annoyed. Today I am asking if my dependence on conveniences has in fact made me less flexible and more rigid / brittle?
Regarding community, my strongest relationships are those I formed during times of adversity. Public school and university were not always the best stewards of my time but they helped me form lifelong friendships not only because of struggles within the classroom but because my classmates and teachers were there for me for the challenges I faced outside of the classroom as well.
I don’t know how these experiences will evolve in a setup like Alpha.
Nisheeth this is so well articulated and so relevant in today's context. Most of what you have elaborated on resonates fully with my thoughts. Would like to read more about your thoughts
A very thought provoking article indeed. While we have to acknowledge the fact that AI is for sure going to be a big part of our everyday life, I do agree with the author about how it is going to rewire the future generations on how to think and be creative. My fondest memories in education are associated with not just the curriculum but the human element involved. A teacher can be an inspiration or a let-down making you love new challenges of a subject or completely abandon learning. This has stayed with me as I now transition into my middle-age, the experiences have certainly shaped my perspective about challenges of life. I am certainly not for pure AI based teaching, maybe.a hybrid-model where teachers and mentors are also involved-that perhaps is something more digestible....
Very insightful and thought-provoking article. It presents both sides of the case clearly... and I honestly do not know which side I would lean in this debate, because these are truly hard questions.
At the end of the day, it may never be possible to know the answer - and as likely with all the messiness of life, we may look upon this as a mixed blessing or curse - but something about this inexorable march of technology (very much in the pursuit of profits, regardless of all the virtue signaling) gives me pause. Unfortunately, we as a society are no longer given the choice or luxury to move slowly, with due deliberation.
That said, perhaps Alpha School may serve as a good natural experiment while the traditional school system is still alive, and I hope other researchers will take up the project of what we gained and lost by AI optimizing education.
In traditional schooling today, learning is a race in which many children are left behind. I think this is especially true in large public schools.
AI assisted, project + teamwork based learning is probably more equitable and effective than one teacher and 40+ kids with daily or weekly assignments and tests.
I agree with your point that struggling with problems is important to learning, but I don’t think Alpha or similar schools prevent this.
Removing the challenge of tedium only intensifies the challenge of competition. Instead of the struggle of just piecing basic things together, now you struggle to produce something more impressive than your peers. The struggle of just piecing basic things together probably still has value, just like weight training is useful even for non-strength athletes, so we don't want to get rid of it entirely, but learning should be re-contextualized so that it's much less central.
grind not grinde
The point that current system is transformatiive and leads through a maize of concepts which lead to metamorphosis that may evolve some one to sports person or musician or scientist which may not be possible in AI Alpha schools.
I remember a teacher who use to deliberately tale wrong path while solving a problem to fire students imagination.
Can you learn music without the actual grinde.
"When you train for performance, you lose the space to wonder."
With growing competition, especially in India at grade 12th level for IIT JEE and advanced, many students while learning the basics of subjects like Physics and Mathematics do not get enough headspace to explore, wonder, inquire, ponder upon "why things are they way they are" and "their deeper meaning". Their goal, due to demand and nature of examinations, is to train for performance (speed of calculations) and not aim to solve or approach the same problems with a novel standpoint. It is disheartening to see students not getting opportunity to think deeply and ponder about ideas.
Thanks for writing this Nisheeth! I very much enjoyed it and it has forced me to think more on this topic.
The two things I keep coming back to are “friction is failure” and the sense of community you have addressed in this piece.
Regarding the first point, I’ve been thinking about how it applies not only to education but many aspects of my life. With the conveniences of modern life I’ve found myself becoming less gracious and patient. When something is not smooth I find myself becoming annoyed. Today I am asking if my dependence on conveniences has in fact made me less flexible and more rigid / brittle?
Regarding community, my strongest relationships are those I formed during times of adversity. Public school and university were not always the best stewards of my time but they helped me form lifelong friendships not only because of struggles within the classroom but because my classmates and teachers were there for me for the challenges I faced outside of the classroom as well.
I don’t know how these experiences will evolve in a setup like Alpha.
Thank you again, this was a great piece!
Nisheeth this is so well articulated and so relevant in today's context. Most of what you have elaborated on resonates fully with my thoughts. Would like to read more about your thoughts
A very thought provoking article indeed. While we have to acknowledge the fact that AI is for sure going to be a big part of our everyday life, I do agree with the author about how it is going to rewire the future generations on how to think and be creative. My fondest memories in education are associated with not just the curriculum but the human element involved. A teacher can be an inspiration or a let-down making you love new challenges of a subject or completely abandon learning. This has stayed with me as I now transition into my middle-age, the experiences have certainly shaped my perspective about challenges of life. I am certainly not for pure AI based teaching, maybe.a hybrid-model where teachers and mentors are also involved-that perhaps is something more digestible....
Well written, Professor. It was a fantastic read and thank you
Very insightful and thought-provoking article. It presents both sides of the case clearly... and I honestly do not know which side I would lean in this debate, because these are truly hard questions.
At the end of the day, it may never be possible to know the answer - and as likely with all the messiness of life, we may look upon this as a mixed blessing or curse - but something about this inexorable march of technology (very much in the pursuit of profits, regardless of all the virtue signaling) gives me pause. Unfortunately, we as a society are no longer given the choice or luxury to move slowly, with due deliberation.
That said, perhaps Alpha School may serve as a good natural experiment while the traditional school system is still alive, and I hope other researchers will take up the project of what we gained and lost by AI optimizing education.
In traditional schooling today, learning is a race in which many children are left behind. I think this is especially true in large public schools.
AI assisted, project + teamwork based learning is probably more equitable and effective than one teacher and 40+ kids with daily or weekly assignments and tests.
I agree with your point that struggling with problems is important to learning, but I don’t think Alpha or similar schools prevent this.
🤯
Removing the challenge of tedium only intensifies the challenge of competition. Instead of the struggle of just piecing basic things together, now you struggle to produce something more impressive than your peers. The struggle of just piecing basic things together probably still has value, just like weight training is useful even for non-strength athletes, so we don't want to get rid of it entirely, but learning should be re-contextualized so that it's much less central.