In early June, Leif Weatherby, the Director of NYU’s Digital Theory Lab, wrote a piece for the New York Times entitled “A.I. Killed the Math Brain“. In it, he puts forward the worry that “we, as a society, will become innumerate, not just illiterate.”
What I found particularly interesting about his opinion piece was his recommendation to young students today to study language and mathematics.
Because after all, when you talk to a chatbot, you’re using everyday language to talk to a mathematical system that, in turn, talks back to you. Whilst technical skills mayn’t be enough to deal with the unpredictable fallout of A.I. in society, a broad-based knowledge of mathematics and language may be the only way to adapt.
He closes by saying, “And while jobs might disappear in one sector, we will always need humans who can make sense of A.I.”
Because hope and responsibility rest on human shoulders. No matter how clever the machines get, we will still need people who can interpret, challenge, and imagine. And those skills come from the enduring disciplines of math and language, which in turn link to critical thinking.
For me, this also links to imagination: the ability to imagine something different, find new paths, and think strategically about how to create (or avoid) what’s imagined. So I’d argue that the capacity for Futures Literacy is the third thing for young people, and not-so-young people, to develop.
Perhaps these three skills are the key to be flexible in the face of uncertainty.
Perhaps they bring out the humanity that we desperately need when interacting with artificial intelligence.
Perhaps they will be the key to creating a sustainable career in a world where even premium degrees are no longer a guarantee of a job.