To Our Future Leaders
I had the privilege last month, on the occasion of a visit to my grandson’s elementary school, to hear a riveting and, in my opinion, prescient and insightful message by the Headmaster of New Canaan Country Day School, Mr. Aaron Cooper.
Not only was I highly impressed by his message, but its relevance to us all, at this time and at any age, is so highly significant that I’m motivated to broadly share some excerpts.
School President Cooper stated:
“We are at a once-in-a-generation moment of change. Artificial Intelligence has already become a constant in our lives and will only become more so as we move forward. As a school that forms the foundation in life — working exclusively with the entire range of childhood — how does this impact us and how should we be thinking about this? Further, we have always thought that a good litmus measure of childhood education can be taken at age 30. You see, we aim to create the foundation for our students to grow into happy, healthy, and successful 30-year-olds, primed for a life of impact and purpose. Well, our current Beginners will be 30 in and around the year 2050. If just thinking about the year 2050 boggles your mind, well, it does mine too — and yet that is exactly what our students need for us to be thinking about right now.”
“So, what will the world look like then? What jobs will exist? What will be needed to be a happy, healthy, and successful person then? In a world in which AI is ubiquitous and unimaginably sophisticated, where does human value come in? And how do we create the conditions for our students to develop that value? These are the sorts of things we are thinking about now.”
“And the good news is that I believe the answer is not so different from what it has been, even as much as the world may be changing and as much as it may not be able to be predicted. I think human value emerges in the people who know how to leverage technology for even more impact — driving faster, deeper, more accurate, more well-informed analyses. It emerges in those who have an idea and know how to test the potential worth of that idea. It emerges in those who know how to utilize the digital to accentuate the human — leadership, relationships, connections, meaningful impact.”
“In other words, human value emerges in an AI world from those who know how to think — critically, independently, logically. From those who know how to create — to form new ideas and to take new pieces of information to shift existing approaches. From those who are curious. From those who know how to communicate effectively and persuasively — with both the spoken and the written word. And from those who know how to work together to generate more value.”
“Think about athletics. While playing sports, an athlete needs to think and act quickly, taking in dynamic information to inform decision-making as the opposing players make their moves, and they need to communicate with their teammates clearly and directly. And, of course, understanding of and practice with the basics only aids their development. In other words, athletes learn critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration through action, supported by a curriculum that develops the fundamentals. I cannot think of a better learning environment than that.”
“These are just some of the many ways we continue to ensure that our students will have the tools to grow to be happy, healthy, and successful 30-year-olds and thrive in the world in 2050, no matter what AI — or the next thing — is doing then.”
Formal education is a gift, not always available in equal measure to everyone. But words of wisdom should be shared because they are always applicable in every time, situation, and place.
