Building a Future-Ready Generation for the Post-COVID World
In the past 14 months, COVID-19 has left a mark on countless lives worldwide — disrupting work, schools, travel, health, and well being of billions. Schools and education systems worldwide are striving to understand COVID’s impact better. Pre-pandemic premises and models need to be discarded or renewed, and new paradigms can help us successfully navigate these transitions.
Schools must prepare the next generation as the world of the future is not the world of capitalism; it is the world of talentism. It is a world where capital is being replaced by human talent as the essential factor of production. Meanwhile, the pandemic is accelerating the adoption of technology. Still, it fully benefits from the technology. They must further promote the growth of a future workforce with digital skills and AI skills.
We all know that there is a demand for skill development, but how do we fill that need? Delivering successful AI skills education doesn’t come with the push of a button. If we genuinely want to address the AI gap and set our students up for success, there are four MUST-have conditions.
Equal access to AI education and skills:
At ReadyAI, we believe it may not be as challenging to reform AI learning education systems. We have the initial building blocks to create a more equal and personalized education. (AI+Me Online Course, 5 Big Ideas in AI Picture Books)
Students around the world have the right to learn the 5 Big Ideas in AI:
- How AI Sees the World
- How AI Makes Choices
- How AI Learns
- How AI Can Change the World
- How We Work with AI
Our children should have the right to be AI-educated so they can thrive intellectually, emotionally, and morally alongside AI. In the next decade or so, for most children, AI will be their co-workers, drivers, insurance agents, customer service representatives, bank tellers, receptionists, radiologists, in short, a natural part of their lives. We must work together to help our children transform them from a passive spectator of technology disruption to active participants of positive change in their local communities and the world.
Adequate, reliable internet access for all
We must guarantee that the global recovery is one that brings every student along, and we can achieve it without bridging the digital divide. According to you UNICEF, two-thirds of the world’s school-age children, or 1.4 billion aged three to 17 years old, do not have internet connection in their homes. Without access to the internet in these remote times, students looking to learn, grow and explore are at a paramount and impossible-to-overcome disadvantage. Scalable programs, particularly those that have moved from in-person to virtual, require a stable internet connection. Therefore, broadband access is vital to economic recovery.
Private-public sector collaboration
To encourage greater participation and set the stage for a global economic recovery, the private and public sector partner must make critical training easily accessible. This isn’t a challenge that one organization, even one sector, can solve on its own. Instead, it will require deliberate, sustained effort from all sides.
A promise of AI leadership
We all need to work together throughout these times of crisis: brains, or having the proper skills for what our tasks require; heart, we have to be passionate about what we are doing and soul, for our internal compass to guide our values and muscles to have the strength to fulfill the responsibilities.
I agree that these are critical in today’s society, and we must put these qualities into practice as they strive to build a future-ready global workforce. We need leaders who use brains to ideate around new reskilling initiatives and sue muscles to ensure training opportunities are sustainable and impactful, all the while leading with heart and soul.
Coming out of a year of change and uncertainty, there’s one thing we know for sure — the stage has been set for profound transformation and enduring positive change. The pandemic has forced us to rethink old paradigms and plan for a future that will look very different from our past. To successfully navigate this future, we need to look at both the technology and people sides of the equation. The impact of skills training can help workers stay competitive and help people pivot into new careers. By connecting individuals to opportunities to learn, we can create a pathway into more equity, diversity, inclusion, and less vulnerability to sudden disruptions like COVID-19.
Learn more about ReadyAI: http://readyai.org
