Within the Crumbling 'Cage of Normality': How Generative AI Shatters Educational Values

Wishing to 'be normal' was both a defensive reaction and a curse.

I didn't want to be hurt by anyone.
I didn't want to be blamed.
So, I feel like I've lived my life holding my breath, staying within the white lines that outline 'normality' so as not to step outside them.

'You shouldn't stand out in a weird way.'
'You shouldn't go down the wrong path.'
Surely, no one actually threw those words at me.
It was probably just the atmosphere drifting in the air that made it so.

Even so, I diligently drew white lines inside myself, and
quietly acquired the habit of measuring myself by 'whether or not I am normal.'
I was always worried about whether I was stepping on the white lines I had drawn myself.

If you are normal, you are forgiven and protected.
You can stay close to the correct answer.
You can gain a sense of security.
That is what I believed.

And so,the white lines forming the 'normality' I had layered over and over had eventually become as high as a wall.
The higher and more insurmountable that wall was, the more relief I felt.
However, at the same time, it had also become a cage that bound me.

It was surely school that taught me about 'normality'.

Going to school at the same time every day, to the same place,
the chime ringing at the appointed time,
projecting the correct answers decided by someone onto the blackboard,
everyone facing the same direction all at once,
imagining futures that were different yet somehow similar.

As long as I followed that, there was a shield-like sense of security,
and when I couldn't follow it, there was a fear like touching a sharp blade.

And so, get good grades, go to a good university, and get a job at a good company.
I took those words someone had said at face value, and was convinced that was 'normal happiness'.

But from the start,'normality' is nothing more than a fluid value standard.

For example, lifetime employment, which I thought was normal, was merely a transitional system born after the war, and it is now becoming exhausted.
Even the culture of New Year's cards, which was deeply rooted in society, is no longer normal.

As people's ways of living and values diversify, things like normality gradually disappear.
The era when everyone watched the same TV program at the same time has long since passed.
If the places that foster the same values are lost, the illusion of normality has no choice but to vanish.

However, amidst the diversification, some foundations for guaranteeing normality still remain.
One of them should be 'school education'.

But perhaps even that is only a matter of time.

According to one theory, generative AI is already at the master's degree level. Indeed, when using reasoning models (O3), it is becoming difficult to deny this.
In many fields, as long as you provide the right questions, it can instantly collect and organize information to provide generally valid answers.

Both in terms of speed and the quality of the answers, it is difficult for humans to outperform it unless they possess a corresponding level of expertise.
I am increasingly feeling this to be the case.
I even think it is a cruel level for a college graduate in their first or second year of work to compete against.

That said, this does not immediately negate the necessity of education.
The essence of education lies not only in 'fostering immediate assets' but in nurturing the very act of 'thinking'.

Its value lies in enhancing the ability to keep asking questions and the tolerance to accept perspectives different from one's own, rather than in the acquisition of superficial knowledge.

However, to achieve that, one needs 'leeway' in terms of both time and cost.
On the other hand, in today's society, which only seeks time performance and cost performance, that 'leeway' may no longer remain.
When companies lack leeway, they want 'something finished' immediately.
Because an AI that can provide answers right away is more rational than a person who is still in the process of learning.

And so, when companies, as the exit point, no longer seek 'educated individuals,' the day will likely come when the value of school education is undermined..

At that point, aiming for higher education will cease to be the norm.
Even if the essence of education and the importance of liberal arts remain unchanged, the values placed on education will shift based solely on the supply and demand balance of employment.

Education used to be like an easy-to-understand map that one could believe would lead to a proper future.
When we lose such values, the 'cage of normality' may crumble even further.

When we lose the signpost of normality, living becomes more like a blank sketchbook with no model answers.
There is no correct answer for how to draw, but at the same time, there is the freedom to draw however you like.

When you step out of the 'cage of normality,' the scenery that spreads out before you might be a clear blue sky, or it might be a desolate desert.

No one knows that yet.

I wrote this with a strong essay-like feel again.
I would be happy if you could 'like' it if you enjoyed it.
See you next time.

〇Related Links (ChatGPT, Generative AI related)