AI, Learning, & Storytelling
1/ I grew up with parents who really emphasized education and the importance of good grades. Growing up in Tallahassee in the 80s and 90s I attended public school all through elementary, middle, and high school and had a fantastic education. I was blessed with fantastic teachers who really inspired me to love learning and reading. My grades didn’t always reflect what I learned (imho “success” is a lagging indicator). For that reason I think I learned early on to be comfortable with the dissonance and lag time between learning and grades.
2/ My parents weren’t always too happy with my grades but in retrospect I was developing a love of learning. I studied to learn and not just to get a good grade.
3/ In high school the most serious activity I engaged in was brain bowl (or trivia bowl). It helped to know the capitals of countries, authors/painters/musicians of famous works of art, history, math, science, etc…it was an excellent way to build a classical education. Before the internet, knowing all these facts was seen as pretty impressive. Now it’s seen as trivial or unnecessary.
4/ To prepare for brain bowl competitions I’d spend hundreds if not thousands of hours after school in the school library or the county library and just read and read. Doing this NEVER helped my test taking on specific subjects the next day. But I learned to enjoy reading/learning because I deliberately looked for reading materials that made learning less boring because of excellent storytelling. I tell my kids now that history is the story of a person, place, or thing. Everyone likes a good story. Disney is a massive business built on stories and imagination.
5/ I struggle with the same issues my parents have and that is how to balance learning vs. grades. This struggle is even more complicated given AI and the incredible growth of computing power. Last week I spent a few hours preparing our 10 year old for a state and capital quiz. I thought he was really prepared but when he came back with the results he was unhappy with his grade. Heather and I saw the results and we told him it’s more than ok. We want him to love learning and not purely focus on grades.
6/ With AI becoming so powerful it’s become even harder for parents to discern what is important. Calculators were always better than me in math but I still learned math up to calculus and beyond. AI can now create better drawings and spell better than humans but that doesn’t mean our kids shouldn’t enjoy drawing or learn how to spell. I now believe the main goal of education is to love learning & pursue lifelong learning. The best way to love learning is by having good storytellers teach. I’m alright with my kids not learning the spelling of state and cities. I just hope they will love learning and AI won’t replace every job!
7/ This was not written by ChatGPT.
#ai #education #learning #growth #storytelling #stories #school