1000 years ago farmers in large farms did heavy physical work without heavy machinery. Today, few commercial farmers can conceive ploughing such farms without a tractor. There will be a time, if humanity doesn’t kill itself, when professionals will be unable to do AI-unassisted mental work. I can already feel the pattern having worked with ChatGPT. You form the shape of the software, the lecture, the project or the report you’re writing, you bring in your own touches and fixes but still, a large part of the material is done by the AI. For me, I can now do things in hours what it took me to do in weeks. This is the future for all mental work, be it creative or technical. The technical, creative and productive advantages, as well as the improved quality of the product of such an AI-human hybrid, far outstrips an unassisted human. This is akin to comparing a farmer with a tractor to one without one.

The real question should be about the future nature of teaching in such a context. What kind of teaching might support such a child of the future? A human should still teach another one what that kind of flow is like, because the human contribution is still there and it is still intensely challenging though significantly different. The teachers of today should immerse themselves in AI-assisted teaching in order to understand it and transmit what can be taught or coached to their students. Curriculums, teaching methods and assessments should drastically change to accommodate all that, but perhaps not right away …