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CitricThoughts t1_j9rznh8 wrote

I've seen this idea in a lot of Sci-Fi at this point. I'll talk about two, briefly. First is Mutaneer's Moon, in which automated AI driven education completely replaces teachers and traditional school. Everyone has the ability to look up anything with the power of the literal moon which is a giant machine in that universe. Very unrealistically, people protest for a while and then happily and immediately get in line.

Another is The Diamond Age. In this, people get access to wikipedia+. With this, people an ask any questions they want of the magic book and it'll educate you on anything. In the hands of a naturally curious and talented kid, this makes incredible people.

In both cases these are examples of "self-driven" education, based on AI. Our AI is not that good, is not that reliable or accurate. It's simply gotten to the level where it's tolerable. Given 10-20 years however, we might be able to reach a level of "automated education".

There's a couple of ways this could go. I suspect that at some point after the invention of good auto-ed governments will mandate standards. Much as people can educate themselves with youtube or skillshare now, people could do the same with these programs. With government approval/regulation however, they could also get legally useful degrees and diplomas.

Another is gamification. Imagine school as a game where everyone is competing for the high score. Every bit of education has been made fun using the techniques of modern gaming and AI. Many people hate this idea, but I think it could emerge in the near future.

It could be a wonderful tool, but it could also be terrifying. Imagine a gamified auto-ed system that's better than any traditional school and designed by someone evil. You could create an evil, exploitative, addictive school that pumps out people with whatever malign ideology you like. That's true of regular schools, but these would be magnified to a new level. Dictators could use these tools to shape the next generation.

It could be wonderful, it could be terrible. I believe we'll be getting there eventually though.

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Workerhard62 OP t1_j9s0gct wrote

I've been spreading news of gamification for a couple years now.

You have a great take on this. Gold. 🪙

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CitricThoughts t1_j9s2ud3 wrote

Thanks, I've been thinking about the problem for years. I grew up in a rural town with terrible education and mostly had to teach myself whatever I wanted to learn, so these stories naturally attracted me to them.

If there's one thing I know, it's that technology doesn't change people. It just magnifies them. It'll be wonderful and terrible, but mostly just more.

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[deleted] t1_j9s42i2 wrote

[removed]

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Futurology-ModTeam t1_j9vo7b9 wrote

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> > Username checks out for sure.

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ichankal t1_j9xi47v wrote

> Everyone has the ability to look up anything

Go to any news subreddit. People are too lazy to read the article, which is only one click away.

>In the hands of a naturally curious and talented kid

And thats where the whole thing falls apart... in a world where most people are too fucking lazy to scroll down the page a bit to see what people have already posted... before posting the exact same fucking question that has already been asked and answered a hundred times already.

The only way to get information into the average kid's head is to tell them to sit down, shut the fuck up, and listen.

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CitricThoughts t1_j9xl8t7 wrote

That's just the way things are. Some people are driven. Some people are not. The driven people, given access to tools and information, get to be better educated and live better lives. Why should the future be any different?

Cynically saying everyone is in the unmotivated category is wrong though. For every person that becomes a cyberpotato there'll be another that chooses to chase cyber-godhood. Just like there's people that give themselves a college education equivalent on their own time with free tools today.

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ichankal t1_j9xlsng wrote

> Some people are driven. Some people are not.

Jesus Christ, what a way to run an education system.

"Sorry Parent, we didnt teach your kid anything this year because he wasnt driven. Better luck next year."

No. Just No. A school has to teach all students as much as they can, not just the "driven" ones. Get them to sit down, shut up, listen, take notes, ask questions, and yes it will all be tested on the exam.

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CitricThoughts t1_j9xn7qg wrote

I imagine you'd be a very "fun" teacher. The idea is to combine fun, game-like education with self driven standards. It can't work for everyone, but neither does current public school. Neither does religious school or home school. Neither does current self education. I don't know if it'll work, it'll have flaws and not work for everyone because that's how everything works. No matter how good you do, some people just won't try or will fail. It's simply a new tool that'll be added to the toolbox.

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