More On AI

I ran across two articles over Thanksgiving break on artificial intelligence. Each one offered an interesting perspective on what AI could be for young learners, both today and when they grow up to be our country’s workforce.

Richard Culatta, CEO of ISTE+ASCD, compared human intelligence with artificial intelligence in his article “What a Dump Truck and Sports Car Can Teach Us About AI.” (11/19/25)

Culatta writes,

“For hundreds of thousands of years, when it came to complex reasoning and advanced problem-solving, human intelligence was the only game in town. If there was a higher-order cognitive task that needed doing, humans did it.”

“But humans no longer hold a monopoly on intelligence.”

“Artificial intelligence (AI) now has the ability to outperform human intelligence on a wide range of cognitive tasks, from reading comprehension and image classification to language translation and safe driving.”

“This doesn’t mean human intelligence is any less important. In fact, as a digital humanist, I believe human intelligence has never been more essential. But it does create an interesting situation for us humans. For the first time in history, we have to come to terms with the fact that there are some tasks that our human brain actually isn’t optimized for. There are jobs we have been doing only because there was no better option. Recognizing this takes some humility on our part.”

“Imagine a dump truck and a sports car parked next to each other. Both have different strengths and weaknesses based on their design. If I’m trying to travel a long distance efficiently and comfortably, the sports car is my best bet. If I’m trying to haul a pile of rocks across town, the dump truck is the far better option. We now have two types of intelligence to choose from – human and artificial. And like the two vehicles, we have to recognize which one is best suited for the task at hand.”

Culatta’s take is so smart, but too many school districts are ignoring his “intelligence” by continuing to ban artificial intelligence, social media, cellphones, and other types of device technology in favor of a single teacher imparting knowledge to a group of passive learners.

This approach, and approach that prevents our young learners from figuring out what is best to use at any given moment – the sports car or the dump truck – most assuredly will have unintended consequences when it comes to young learners figuring out how to build create and effective learning plans for themselves.

And here’s the deal. Businesses are desperate for employees with AI skills. According to a recent EducationWeek article (11/17/25) industries from agriculture, entertainment, and health care are all searching for young learners who demonstrate competence with the workings of artificial intelligence. Right now, the K-12 educators primarily responsible for teaching these skills are career and technology (CTE) teachers.

“Nearly one-third of CTE educators say they expect their district or school to introduce CTE offerings in the fields of digital technology, information technology, AI, and cybersecurity, according to a nationally representative survey of 472 CTE teachers and administrators conducted by the EdWeek Research Center in the fall.”

But how can school districts introduce digital technology, information technology, AI, and cybersecurity pathways when their school boards have outlawed technology that accompanies such coursework? Traditional school districts are in danger, again, of being labeled professional hypocrites – unable to execute on fulfilling business needs because of some archaic fear that AI, social media, and cellphones will ruin our youth.

The problem isn’t the technology. The problem is our current K-12 system being unable to figure out how to train their young learners how to use that technology for breakthrough learning. Until that happens, the disconnect between “school world” and the real world will just continue to grow.

Til tomorrow. SVB