Future Thinking (AI)

“Stop educating for their past and start educating for their future.”

In a recent Fireside Chat with Boston College: Generative AI in Education, hosted by Grammarly, the above statement resonated with me, because it’s true.

In between all the “stuff” that summer brings to the Dean’s Office, I’ve been thinking a lot about our future, and for fun, I’ve been listening to podcasts and exploring AI. I’m excited about our future and how AI will transform education – yes, I just said that. Many experts have serious concerns, particularly in the education sector. But the more I learn, the more I think AI increases the value of a Liberal Arts education. We help students develop critical thinking and problem solving and build analytical fluency. Our graduates are prepared to examine multiple viewpoints, adapt, and collaborate. They are exposed to a wide range of subjects which enables them to think outside the box.  So, the advent of AI doesn’t change what we do, but it will change how we do it.

AI will also change how we work. One thing that bothers me is the number of experts that only see how we can use AI to do more. You’ve heard the examples. A PR firm will only need 3 employees instead of 10. They don’t consider how it can help us do better by doing less. AI can create space that we can use to improve the quality of life and produce better results. So, instead of the PR professionals working 60-hour weeks, they can take 3-day weekends and be better focused and produce better results for their clients.

Then, I listened to the latest Greg McKeown (What’s Essential) podcast:

Leveraging AI for an Essentialist and Effortless Lifestyle

He has that perspective I’ve been looking for. You remember, Weniger Aber Besser. Doing less, better. To me, that’s where the sweet spot is with AI and that’s the sweet spot for us. We’ve spent years doing more and more. But to be our best, we need to do less, but better. Greg shares a summary of his recent HBR article:

To Build a Top Performing Team, Ask for 85% Effort

We need to fight against the mindset that maximum effort produces maximum results. The truth is optimum effort produces maximum results.

As we move into the future, we need to embrace AI in how we teach and how we work. How can it create deeper learning? How can it create space for us to think deeply? Let’s fight the urge to simply pursue more. The answers aren’t as clear as we would hope – yet. But we will have conversations to learn together and find the right solution for us.

YOU make a difference.

Ponder this …