Education in the AI Era: Why Do Children Need a 'Purpose' Now? Understanding Future Learning Through the Lens of History

Hello, I'm Ryoji!

In my first post, I talked about the 'sense of discomfort' I felt as a student about following a pre-laid track.

This time, I want to take it a step further and explain in detail my thoughts on the theme, 'Why is it so important for children in this coming era to have their own purpose?' by incorporating the historical background of education and the real changes of the AI era.

Education in an Industrial Society Where 'Purpose' Was Unnecessary

First, I would like to turn back the clock a little and think about Japanese education from the past.

In the era when Japan was achieving high economic growth, the so-called 'industrial society,' what society demanded was 'human resources who could accurately and quickly carry out what they were told from above' within factories and large organizations.

School education at the time was surprisingly optimized to meet the needs of this society. Students would quietly listen to the 'one and only correct answer' taught by the teacher at the front, memorize it, and obediently complete the assigned work and tasks.

There was no need for an individual's 'purpose,' such as 'Why am I learning this?' or 'How do I want to live in the future?' In fact, questioning the 'purpose' or 'meaning' of instructions from above was often treated as noise that reduced organizational efficiency.

In other words, the 'education that values the ability to obediently do what one is told,' which we received, was undoubtedly a 'great success' in the past industrial society. There is a historical fact that Japan was able to become a wealthy country precisely because that system existed.

Entering the AI Era, the Rules Have Completely Changed

However, times have changed. We are now living in the midst of a completely new 'information society' and the 'AI era,' not just an extension of that industrial society.

I personally interact with AI tools every day, writing programming code and building systems, and there is something I feel keenly every day.

It is the somewhat cruel reality that 'tasks that only involve accurately doing what you are told will be replaced by AI and robots from now on.'

Memorizing vast amounts of knowledge and processing things quickly according to a manual are areas where AI excels the most. If children try to compete using only the 'ability to accurately output what they are told' as in the old education, humans will never be able to beat technology.

Furthermore, technology is evolving every moment, and the speed of change in the era is becoming so fast that yesterday's common sense no longer applies today. The lifetime employment system is collapsing, and the 'success track' prepared by adults—that if you enter a good school and join a good company, you will be safe for life—is disappearing in today's society.

Setting Your Own Purpose and Goals and Taking Action

So, what should education be like in such an unpredictable era?

I believe that what children need most to survive in the coming society is the 'ability to set their own purposes and goals and put them into action.'

If AI is given instructions by humans to 'do this,' it will produce wonderful results. However, AI itself will never generate a spontaneous 'purpose' such as 'I want to do this' or 'I want to make the future like this.'

Being able to decide on a purpose and determine the direction to move forward is a unique skill that only humans possess.

That is precisely why, rather than just running along a track laid out by someone else, they must draw for themselves where they want to go from a blank slate, and think through and act on the steps necessary to get there.

This 'proactive attitude of seizing opportunities' will become the greatest weapon for children living in the coming era.

What I want to share in future notes

That said, 'setting a purpose and taking action on one's own' is not easy, even for us adults. It is even more challenging for children who have become accustomed to 'completing the correct answers provided to them'.

Even when doing school homework, if they are just doing it because they were told to turn it in, it can be said that the means have become the end, and they have abandoned the act of thinking.

That is why I feel that in future educational settings and family interactions, we need to seriously consider how children can break free from the 'means becoming the end' and start moving proactively with a self-initiated purpose.

Therefore, in this note moving forward, I would like to regularly share my own thoughts and tips for daily practice on themes such as the following.

More than just teaching the contents of textbooks, I want to make this a place where we can think together about how to foster these 'foundational skills for living in an era of upheaval'.

Thank you for reading to the end this time as well!