Criticality in the Age of AI
In March of this year, I began a deep dive into AI. It wasn’t the Large Language Models (LLMs) that drew me in, but rather the ethics and policies to be discussed around them. One afternoon I was watching Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI (ChatGPT parent company) in the early stages of his whirlwind global tour to advocate for guardrails and regulations (while simultaneously cementing his company’s pole position), and he said something that immediately resonated with me. He was talking about the different parties that should be invited to ‘sit at the table’ in country discussions of AI policies, he named professors, and something in my brain switched on. I started reflecting on my undergraduate days studying Philosophy in the early 90s. We used to debate artificial intelligence and the ethical constraints back then. That’s the thing, professors have been pondering, debating, researching, and writing papers about AI for decades! Here is a 15-minute interview Sam Altman did 6 months ago on AI in education.
This summer I started my 53rd trip around the sun. International education is ageist (this is not a revelation but a statement of observable fact). So, I started to think about life after k-12, and what it could look like. As my Dad asked me back in the 90s, ‘Who’s going to pay you to do that’? So, as I looked at areas of interest, I kept asking myself, ‘Who’s going to pay me to do that’? I started researching critical thinking in schools, and what I noticed most glaring was what was missing! Where was the scope and sequence of critical thinking?! How is it possible in this day and age, where mature schools have scope and sequences for so many things, but don’t have one for the basis of most thinking that we purport to value? If they exist out there in k-12, I haven’t found them in months of searching. Maybe it’s because the ‘what’ of critical thinking is much easier to teach than the ‘how’. ATL skills state the what. Ontario government put out curriculum resources on Critical Thinking and Critical Literacy, that also state the what. Many university professors complain about the level of critical thinking taught at the university level, never mind k-12. So, I’ve decided to write my own scope and sequence on Critical and Creative Thinking. If you want to contribute, DM me.
Criticality is a noun, which means: a critical quality, state, or nature. In my opinion, critical thinking is the most important skill that needs developing (in children and adults) when evaluating artificial intelligence. We are all about to be deluged by video, audio, and other modalities in ways we’ve never seen and in volume difficult to digest.
So this site is for anyone interested in thinking critically about artificial intelligence, how it impacts schools and society at large, and how we can and need to develop our skills and capabilities in these areas. Whether or not it’s ethical to be bringing some of these AI tools into our schools and into our lives.
Please note: I’ll be sharing regularly the best of what I find. Please message me with requests or questions, so I have a better idea of what my audience wants to read, listen, and watch.
Who I’m Reading and Following:
Blog — Leon Furze Leon is who I ask the hardest AI questions to. So far he’s had a good or great answer for everyone. Leon is a consultant, author, Ph.D. candidate, keynote speaker…there’s more, but I’ll stop now =)
AI Resources for Educators (notion.site) Dalton Flanagan is an Innovation Coach in Hong Kong, and someone everyone in k-12 education should be following. He’s right in there trying all these different AI tools with classes and reflecting on them. Here are his tools for teachers. He’s an excellent curator, as is evidenced by the links above. His blog has useful insights too.
Stephen Taylor and his team at WAB have an exhaustive Libguides that I continually use as a fantastic resource. The WAB team is doing some of the best student-centered AI integration in international schools.
Nick Tanzi is a library consultant, author, and speaker, who shares excellent resources on his LinkedIn account, and insightful blog posts
What I’m reading:
I’m listening to ‘The Coming Wave’ by Mustafa Suleyman. He was the CEO of DeepMind which was purchased by Google. He is currently the CEO of Inflection. Here’s an excellent interview with Mustafa from two months ago.
I’m reading “Harvard Business Review- Artificial Intelligence”.
I’m reading “The Recruiter” by Douglas London. He’s a retired CIA agent whose 34-year career spanned 17 years prior to 911 and 17 years post. His insights are extraordinary. As an added twist, he’s Jewish, so brings to light the anti-semitism he encountered within the ranks of the CIA.
I’m reading “The Wild Robot Protects” by Peter Brown
What’s in my book stack:
Dr. Joy Buolamwini’s “Unmasking AI” looks awesome! I’m really excited to read it.
Harvard Business Review’s Year in Tech 2023
HBR’s 10 Must Reads On Creativity
Harvard Business Review’s Blockchain
Final Notes:
There will be more visuals and videos to balance the text in future posts, so I guess that means I need to learn how to use generative art AI. Any recommendations?
Warmest,
Danny
