From LEARN 2030 to LEARN 2050
When we started AI was not a ‘thing’.
Now it is ushering in not only profound changes to how we live but more importantly, changes to the way in which we think about ourselves and our roles in the world.
It is the phrase "coming for your role" that I think we should be focused on.
So much of our personal identity is made up by the ‘roles’ we play - at work and beyond - that informs how we come to value ourselves. Our roles give us point and purpose.
In work places AI is already doing a lot of the heavy thinking for us and similarly, repetitive jobs have become easy for AI to complete quickly and efficiently.
So does that mean fewer jobs and a loss of the ‘role’ that are attached to them? If we are spending less time at a place of work does that mean more free time? If so - how would we use it? Would we simply be directed by whatever AI says we should try next - as we flick between posts that AI driven algorithms have suggested fit our interests?
The fear is that our ‘role’ is one we come to passively assume by simply filling in the gaps in lives that are defined and directed by AI.
The foil to this is ensuring we are independent thinkers, capable of critically assessing and challenging the world around us, underpinned by a never ending desire to be curious and to ask questions.
David Goodhart in his book ‘Head, Hand, Heart’ (2020) assesses how we have come to value different skills or attributes relating to each. Currently the workplace values ‘head’ the most. It informs our education system believing an investment in ‘cognitive ability’ will drive the best outcomes for society. But with AI that is changing!
If we are to know our role, it is an agility to move between skills associated with head, hand and heart that will come to inform how we are able to know ourselves and the part we want to play.
A sense of our ‘role’ will increasingly be defined less by our jobs but it could be defined more by a growing connection to knowing ourselves as learners. Through embracing the importance of being independent thinkers, there is hope that our roles will be shaped by an authentic and meaningful understanding of who we are and how we can positively relate to others and the world we are part of.
We started with an ambition to create a movement for change with LEARN 2030 but have realised that the mindset shift we are encouraging needs to be deep and supported over time.
LEARN 205🌎 gives us the scope to be part of a sustained conversation about responding to these challenges. So we are taking a lead in helping to uncover the opportunities that this change presents.
➡️ Be a part of this movement by reaching out today!
[Article references]
[Further reading]
The Promise that Changes Everything [2020] by Nancy Kline
