– 1 min read –
Respected Principals, Dear Teachers and Friends …,
To start off our conversation, would you like to ask a question?
Teacher: ‘Yes. Which School did you study in?’
Thinking: (Now where did this come from?)
It’s an open secret and it’s quite alright this, Teachers view, people, as product of their schools; but there’s one more question we need to take, and this one from Principals before getting to the Topic which of course is, AI’s likely impact on classrooms.
So, taking our conversation a bit further and in line with any Principal’s concern for her school we may receive a question (if, an alumni of that school) which would be, ‘I am glad to hear about your success; it makes us proud; but what have you given to India?’ .
We drew out this class of questions from a poem posted by a Principal recently, in a Social Media with lines like: ‘Create, and not merely to Consume’ – reminding us of the special touch that teachers have / had when reprimanding us
Principal’s Poem – The India of Tomorrow
For us adults, the lines bounce back as, ‘What have we given to India ?’ and the predictable response; ‘where was the Time with our job responsibilities; raising the family; (acquiring properties and other assets etc). So now that we understand Time-was-limited as our ceiling let us say it again, and in bold: We have been busy and there’s never enough Time after Work and Family responsibilities.
Yes, that’s right. Bill Gates has generally been an AI optimist.
Three years ago, he wrote that AI had downsides, but the risks were “manageable.”
This week, Gates new memo, headlined: “The Turbulent AI Era Is Here. The Choices We Make Now Are Critical.”
The Reality in these Time – the Part we hesitate to share
The Realities were and still ongoing:
2020 to 2022: We survived Covid 19.
We had over half a million dead (546,000 as per a website tracker) but the Government covered it with the figures include natural death due to age related illnesses.
2022 to Present: The Invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the surge in prices of cooking oil and petrol
Even after the then President Joe Biden admitted to this being a Proxy War all diplomatic efforts have come to a naught.
2026, Ongoing: Israel and US attack on Iran
Our attitude so far is, ‘as long as the bombs are not falling on our roofs, why should we care?’ Moreover it is government business and there is nothing we can do about such things. Meanwhile Trump threatens the use of nuclear bombs with the reasoning that if he does not; Iran will develop nuclear and threaten Israel and all this while prices continue to increase at speeds as if our own Country was at war.
The Realities of AI in classrooms – with entry, unexamined.
It is almost as if the the wars are playing as giant smoke screen covering the AI advances from Military to Industry and now in Schools (silencing critics )
And finally, AI advancing in all sectors of industry and actively promoted to include in schools without any discussions on the ‘dark side’ of its usage by school children in their malleable years. Without any clear institutional regulations.
Meantime state legislatures are hectically arguing on whether the National Anthem can be sung twice before and after a Governor’s speech or Vande Matram to be avoided altogether.
On Teachers Day, during their get-together while senior students run the morning school sessions we suggest that instead of keeping an eye out for the ‘unexpected’ to discuss the Future of Classrooms with AI.
This Website is all about gathering such knowledge on AI and the associated Pros and Cons.
‘Show me a boy of Seven and I will show you the Man’
Mildly paraphrased from Original, attributed to St Ignatius Loyola
AI can certainly change the World of Boys and Girls …, but to become what Adults?
Example of the All Pass till Class IX – Policy
Like for AI, without a coherent discussion we may likely face what the policy of ‘All Pass till Class IX’ system in schools concealed – the School dropout rate increase
Credits:
IPC Report: https://ipc2021.popconf.org/uploads/210054
