There is a saying in education that you treasure what you measure. Going by the standardized tests that dominate schools in many countries around the world, we’re teaching children that we value only a very narrow definition of intelligence—the ability to solve word problems about train times, or identify the purpose of a World War I treaty on a multiple-choice test.
The truth is human intelligence is vast and complex. Yet it is measured—and valued—crassly. And in an age when artificial intelligence is capable of nailing IQ tests and mastering knowledge-based curricula, humans may be setting ourselves up to be outshone by technology.
“I think we are in danger of dumbing ourselves down,” says Rose Luckin, a professor of learning-centered design at University College London who has been studying artificial intelligence and learning for more than 25 years. Because we measure intelligence in very limited ways, “we are very impressed by the sort of intelligent behavior our technology can produce.”
Luckin’s latest book, Machine Learning and Human Intelligence: The future of education for the 21st Century, argues that if we want to avoid turning our kids—and their teachers—into robots, we have to radically redefine intelligence. She advocates using AI to help us develop and measure human intelligence in various forms to better prepare students for a workplace that requires constant adaptation and learning.
Huh? Talk about a contradiction! To read more, click here.