Is Generative AI a Boomer Technology?
A Critical Look at the Technological Future of Education
Many students view generative AI as cringe. In my conversations with students across various academic boards, educational committees and the like, a picture emerges of a generation that is both skeptical and enthusiastic, yet also somewhat resigned towards AI technology. Students seek more than superficial applications: they demand solutions beyond chatbots capable of producing written assignments, deepfakes of politicians, or AI-generated content on TikTok.
And they have a point. Currently, we're frantically attaching wheels to the same old unwieldy wooden crates we've been lugging around for centuries. We're nowhere near inventing the carriage, let alone the bicycle or the electric car - especially not from a sustainability perspective.
Students are calling for solutions that address global challenges such as inequality, international conflicts, and climate change. Increasingly, they reject the notion of being passive recipients of education, instead aspiring to be active co-creators of the future.
The New Role of Educational Institutions
Student expectations of educational institutions have shifted in recent years, a change that may have gone unnoticed amidst an era of reforms focused on accelerated learning and shorter degree programs. Running a higher ed institution means keeping pace with the times, but also - and increasingly - to proactively shape a sustainable future. Here, the education sector faces a dual challenge: how can we meaningfully integrate groundbreaking technology while fulfilling our obligation as a role model for sustainable development? The problems accumulate.
Firstly, there's the issue of energy-blind AI implementation. We risk deploying AI systems without sufficient attention to their enormous energy consumption and carbon footprint. In an age where climate consciousness is paramount, how can we justify the use of a technology that potentially exacerbates the very environmental problems we're trying to solve? What demands can we make of suppliers, from green energy in power outlets to more sustainable development of AI models and their infrastructure?
Secondly, there's our pronounced throwaway culture: The constant upgrading of generative AI and other IT hardware significantly contributes to electronic waste. Is this truly the price of progress - flooding the planet with obsolete devices and gadgets - when we have an increasing number of students and staff whose values align differently and demand alternative behaviors?
Thirdly, and finally for now, there's the broader issue of increased productivity and profit as the holy grail of future development. When we prioritize immediate AI-driven efficiencies over long-term sustainable development goals, what signals are we sending about our values and priorities? Are we genuinely committed to sustainability, or is it merely something we talk about?
These points are just three among many. In fact, there are numerous examples of a fundamental discrepancy between how we currently approach and understand education and the values and needs prioritized by future students and the job market. Generative artificial intelligence, in this regard, is just a lens that brings the underlying problems into focus - a focus, I believe, we need quite desperately.
On Drastic but Necessary Changes
What if we instead viewed the implementation of AI as an opportunity to initiate a fundamental rethinking of our educational system? A chance to create an educational model that is not only technologically advanced but also environmentally responsible and socially sustainable? If we primarily work on adapting generative AI to our current educational practices, we risk educating for yesterday's job market and skills, not tomorrow's.
A change of this magnitude would require us to challenge our own understanding of what education fundamentally is. It's no longer just about transferring knowledge or training skills. Nor is it solely about the job market, but also - and to a greater extent than today - about the students' visions for the future.
Until we begin to work actively and persistently with these perspectives, generative AI will likely continue to be labeled as "boomer technology.” It is our task to find intelligent solutions that resonate with the values and concerns expressed by the coming generation.
Perhaps we should start by listening to and learning from the generation that will live with the consequences of our decisions.