We may already be in the era of ‘peak humanity’, a time where we have the greatest levels of education, reasoning, rationality, and creativity – spread out amongst the greatest number of us.
Hamilton, Wiliam & Hattie (2023)
Tutor: Good evening Mrs Taylor. Hi Harry. Thank you for coming to meet with me this evening. How are you both?
Harry: Yeah, fine thanks, sir.
Mrs Taylor: Er… I’m okay thank you. A little nervous.
Tutor: Oh dear. May I ask what it is you are nervous about?
Mrs Taylor: Well, it is all so different from when I was at school. And the decisions we have to make now are so much more… I just worry that Harry is going to choose something he regrets.
Tutor: Hopefully I can put your mind at rest. It is a big decision but Harry has plenty of time to think through what he wants to do. That’s the purpose of this meeting really. As Harry’s tutor, it is my job to explore the different options with you and make sure you are both happy with the choice he makes. Shall we make a start?
Harry: Yes please sir.
Tutor: Okay. So, Harry, you have been exploring the different pathways available to you already at school. What are your thoughts so far?
Harry: I’d like to follow the Leisure Pathway.
Mrs Taylor: No, we’ve talked about this Harry. I want you to get a proper job.
Harry: But Mum, there aren’t any proper jobs!
Mrs Taylor: That’s not true, Harry. I have a proper job.
Harry: Mum, no-one is going to do that job anymore.
Mrs Taylor: I understand that. But there are plenty of jobs we still need people to do.
Harry: Not any that I am interested in. Anyway, why work when I can do the things I am really interested in and get paid for it?
Tutor: Sorry to interrupt. I think it might be helpful if we talk through one pathway at a time to make sure we all understand each one. Before we do that, I should outline the core curriculum that all students follow in Year 10. Just so you know what Harry will be doing over the next couple of years, Mrs Taylor. Is that okay?
Mrs Taylor: (sighs) Okay. Sorry.
Tutor: Please don’t apologise. I know this can be difficult. So, all students study a core curriculum to ensure they have the knowledge they require to be a good citizen and can live a good life. At the heart of this is Appreciation.
Mrs Taylor: Appreciation?
Tutor: Yes. We want students to appreciate the world around them and to understand how lucky we are that the human race has reached this point. Students study a traditional history curriculum, from classical civilisation through to the Renaissance, Industrial Revolution, right up to the Hinge Point – 2023 and all that. Alongside this, they take Civics which prepares them for the changes that will take place over the next few years so that students can understand their place in society. We want our students to adopt pro-social behaviours but, as we’ve seen, this doesn’t happen by accident. Lastly, all students study art appreciation, which includes the great works of literature, art and performance – both the classical canon and the non-human modern classics.
Mrs Taylor: But what about maths and science? Aren’t they the core curriculum?
Harry: No-one needs maths and science, Mum.
Mrs Taylor: Of course they need maths and science, Harry.
Tutor: Harry is correct, Mrs Taylor. there is absolutely no need for humans to understand maths and science beyond a basic level – enough to get by as a consumer. And even if there was, there is no way any human would be able to comprehend the insights gained through AI in the last few years. Well, not a non-integrated human anyway. And it is too late for Harry to go down that path. Maths and science are still good hobbies, don’t get me wrong. Harry might want to pursue that as part of the Leisure Pathway, but it won’t ever be of any practical use.
Mrs Taylor: I’m not having him have those implants, if that is what you mean? His cousin passed the exams for integration last year. It is like we don’t know him any more.
Tutor: As I say, that isn’t an option now for Harry. We don’t need to be thinking about that. Let’s get back to your thoughts about the Leisure Pathway, Harry. What is it that appeals to you about that option?
Harry: I’d really like to learn a language. I know we don’t have to now we have Babelfish implants, but it is kind of cool to be able to do this without the tech. And I’d also like to learn how to paint. I find it really relaxing.
Mrs Taylor: But you learn how to paint in the core curriculum anyway, right?
Tutor: No, Mrs Taylor. We only teach art appreciation in the core. There is absolutely no need for people to learn to paint anymore – not for consumption purposes anyway. Most of the great works of art and literature are of non-human origin. AI taps into human emotions in a way that hardly any humans throughout modern history have been able to do. The creation of art is only a leisure pursuit for humans now.
Mrs Taylor: So what is the point of creating a piece of art if it isn’t as good as what some computer can do?
Tutor: Mrs Taylor, when Harry was five years old and came home from school with his first drawing, did you not pin it up in your kitchen? I am sure you were proud and moved by what he had created?
Mrs Taylor: Yes, of course. But he’s my son. And it wasn’t about how good the drawing was.
Tutor: Exactly. Human creativity has been far outsripped by intelligent creation systems. For centuries, the point of creativity was for humans to imagine a better world. Thousands of years of human flourishing depended on it. But the joy is that humans have been freed from that burden. Creation no longer has a purpose. The pressure to change the world and how people see it is off. If Harry wants to create pieces of art, he can do so free from the pressure to achieve some unattainable quality. The art can be the expression of his limits, free of purpose or expectation.
Mrs Taylor: I don’t really understand… I…
Harry: Look Mum. I just like painting. It stops me feeling so anxious about everything. What is wrong with that?
Mrs Taylor: Nothing, I guess. I just imagined that you may do something useful. Can we just talk about the other pathways for a minute? There are still jobs we need humans to do.
Tutor: Absolutely. The Human Vocation pathway is a very popular choice. Many students want to work in the caring professions, for instance.
Harry: I don’t want to help old people have a bath.
Tutor: Okay, but what about becoming a chef, or a sports coach? Doing things for other people is still a job for… well, people. At least in some areas.
Harry: I had thought about psychology. When I was younger I had some sessions with a counsellor which really helped me. I’d like to do something like that for someone else.
Tutor: That is a little bit niche now, Harry. There aren’t many jobs left in the field of psychological intervention. We’ve found that virtual reality approaches have so many benefits over the old model of two people sitting in a room together, talking. We’ve been able to eliminate waiting times, provide support on demand, and cut out the time consuming ‘getting to know the patient’ stage by accessing their psychological history built up through their online behaviour. People also just seem to relate better to AI psych support. The studies carried out over the last few years suggest that AI systems present as more empathetic than most humans. People feel safer talking to a computer it would seem.
Harry: You see, Mum? There is hardly anything worth doing, and I am not interested in the jobs that are left.
Tutor: It is understandable to feel like that, Harry. But remember, work can provide you with meaning, even if that work could be done better by AI. That is why some students choose to follow a professional pathway.
Harry: Fake work, you mean.
Tutor: (Laughs) I know you all call it that, and I suppose it is kind of fake. There is no getting away from the fact that most jobs can be performed better by AI systems. But some people still prefer to see humans doing certain jobs. It gives them reassurance. It’s nostalgic. Particularly older generations. They want to speak to a doctor face-to-face. Or they want their children to be taught by a real person for some of the week.
Harry: But they are just a puppet, right? AI is telling them what to do.
Mrs Taylor: They still need to use their judgement, Harry.
Tutor: Well, we encourage them not to do that most of the time. AI is far more accurate in diagnosing disease than a human could ever be, for instance. But if the diagnosis is cancer, some people like to be told this by a human. After all, AI won’t give you a hug! Well, not until humanoid development catches up with AI anyway.
Mrs Taylor: But what about being a teacher, Harry? You’d be good at that.
Tutor: Yes, there is still a role for humans to play in teaching. I mentioned sports coaching earlier. Physical exercise and athleticism is now a large part of what we do with students in the core curriculum. So much of life is passive nowadays that it has become really important. And sporting achievement is now one of the most important ways – one of the only ways – for people to feel that real sense of achievement. Elite sport has never been more important. Last year, we cut what was left of the maths and science curriculum by 50% to make way for more PE.
Harry: You know I am no good at sport, sir.
Tutor: Okay, but you said you love art. You could train to teach on the Leisure Pathway.
Harry: Hmmm. Yeah, that might be okay.
Tutor: Many students choose fake work, but knowing Harry, I think a real job might be better. It is hard to stay motivated when what you do is suboptimal. And some of these jobs are paid at a higher rate than the national living allowance. Of course, you have to work, which puts many people off. But if you can put up with going to work when most of the people you know are playing golf, socialising, or hobby-studying, then real work might be for you.
Mrs Taylor: And is there an option for further study in these areas? I went on to do my PhD after university. It was really satisfying to know that I was creating new knowledge – adding to what we know as a species.
Tutor: Knowledge creation is a non-human activity entirely now, Mrs Taylor. The last of the PhD grants have been cancelled this year. You can still do it as a hobby, of course. But there is no point funding people to do this anymore. You are a dying breed, Mrs Taylor. Sorry – was that rude?
Mrs Taylor: Well, kind of. Maybe offending people is something humans are still better at than AI though. I find this all so depressing. Everything is changing so fast. When Harry started school, school was still the way it was when I was there. We went off every morning, got taught by real people, learnt about the greatest achievements of the human race… what has happened to school? What has happened to the world?
Tutor: “The best that has been thought and said” – that is a quote I hear quite a lot among teachers. The thing is, Mrs Taylor, humans are not the ones to be saying and thinking the best things anymore. In a way that is sad, but in another way it is liberating. It gives people the chance to decide what exactly it is they want to do with their lives. We don’t need to worry about feeding people anymore – everyone receives enough money for that. Climate change is almost in reverse. The burden of work has almost been lifted. What would Karl Marx make of that? Humans are free to pursue enlightenment, to contemplate, to be kind to one another without the constant pressure to earn a living and be economically productive.
Mrs Taylor: But what if the thing you want to do with your life is to push the boundaries of what we know and what we can achieve? What if that is the point of being human?
Tutor: Mrs Taylor, would you like me to schedule psych support? I know a great bot you can talk to about this.
Harry: Yeah Mum, you’re overthinking this. We just need to work out what I’m doing with my life. It’s not that deep.
Tutor: Maybe it would help if I summarised. So, there are three pathways available to Harry: the Leisure Pathway, Human Vocation Pathway, or what Harry likes to call ‘fake work’, working towards one of the professional roles which still exist, albeit pointlessly. I suggest you take some more time to think it through. Given our conversation this evening, and what I know about Harry from tutoring him for the last three years, there may be a vocation out there for him.
Mrs Taylor: Well, I appreciate your help and I don’t want to be rude, but is there a… real person… I could talk to about this?
Tutor: I can certainly schedule an appointment with our human careers advisor for you. I should say, however, that they will provide the same advice I have have tonight because I’ll be generating that advice.
Full credit to Arran Hamilton, Dylan Wiliam and John Hattie for the inspiration for this post, their 2023 paper ‘The Future of AI in Education: 13 things we can do to minimize damage’. I hope they are wrong on most things.
Matthew Evans 