AI is the new reality…it’s imperative that we give the coming generations the skills they will need not only to survive, but to thrive
By Dr Rashmi Mantri
For the last decade and more, it has been the conventional wisdom that coders are the new rock stars, with those who are fluent in the language of technology commanding vast salaries and using their skills to create infinite possibilities.
Then along came AI and suddenly the Cassandras of the tech industry were predicting that coders’ days were numbered as new language models proved to be effortlessly capable of writing complete computer programs on their own.
But is this gloomy scenario correct? Or is it more likely to be the case that the creative, problem-solving aspect of programming will remain an essentially human endeavour as AI – for the foreseeable future, at least – enables smart people to write more code, faster?
These are some of the questions which will undoubtedly be tossed around during National Coding Week, which is underway now (September 16) and has its primary theme centred around Artificial Intelligence.
The annual event will emphasise the importance of coding skills in today’s digital age, whether it’s developing apps, designing websites, analysing data, or automating tasks. It will stress that coding is at the heart of technological innovation.
But it will also be understood by those in the sector that coding is a way of thinking – a logical and measured means of solving problems through design and systems, and a pathway to anticipating issues and removing technological roadblocks.
And, rather than being elbowed aside by AI, those who are adept at, and comfortable in, the language of the internet are likely to become even more important to the future of human progress, providing architectural vision and direction.
That is why all societies should be bending their minds towards the best ways to create future workforces which are AI-ready and on board with the journey we are all going to have to make into a future in which technology runs in the veins.
The first step on that journey is clearly to embed educators in the process and make every effort to ensure that AI and technology – obviously including coding, computational thinking and data literacy – are an integral part of the curriculum in schools across the country.
Organisations such as ours have made some small steps in this direction with innovations such as the recent launch of one of the UK’s first online teaching assistants which specialises in homework assistance in mathematics, one of the subjects which is notoriously difficult to make attractive to students.
Called Olivia, it’s AI-powered talking avatar of a young woman in a classroom interacts with young learners and answers the questions which are puzzling them, at a time of their own choosing.
Created in conjunction with international developers, Olivia supports and underpins the delivery of Supermaths, the College’s most popular teaching app, and has already attracted an unprecedented number of visits to its website.
The value of AI in education has clearly also been recognised in UK governmental circles, with the announcement at the end of last month (August 28) of a new drive which will train AI to make it more reliable and more useful for teachers in England.
The £4 million project will pool government documents, including curriculum guidance, lesson plans and anonymised pupil assessments, which will then be used by AI companies to train their tools so they generate accurate, high-quality content, such as tailored, creative lesson plans and workbooks.
Of course, incorporating AI into education is more than just a technological endeavour – it involves cultivating ethically-aware professionals who will in some ways have to act as the arbiters of the moral and societal impacts of using AI technologies.
As AI systems make decisions and predictions, they can sometimes produce outcomes that raise concerns about bias, fairness, transparency, privacy, security, employability and the shaping of future societies.
There is no doubt that we are entering into a new technological environment, and one with many uncharted waters. It is increasingly imperative that we give the coming generations the tools and the intellectual skills to navigate them.
Dr Rashmi Mantri is Managing Director of the British Youth International College.
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