In a context characterized by rapid progress Artificial intelligence and the expansion of new technologies, Education is at a turning point. According to Akhlaq Sidhu, current dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology at IE University in Madrid, the central gap no longer lies in access to computers or connectivity, but in the way each person chooses to relate to technology.
Sidhu is one of the most influential figures at the intersection between Education, technology and innovation Hence he is a key person to think about The future crossed by artificial intelligence: Not only did Akhlaq Sidhu obtain more than 70 patents in communications and Internet technologies, but he also founded the Sutaraja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley in 2005.
During the 15th session of the International Forum “Reinventing higher education” – organized by IE University last October and co-organized by Imperial College London -, Sidhu analyzed how AI is reshaping learning practices, the skills needed for the future of work and the role of universities in building knowledge. In the face of the so-called “Higher Education 4.0”, he emphasizes that the challenge is not only to integrate tools, but also Avoid delegating thinking and maintain the ability to learn, question and innovate.
-We are in the race of technological changes and immersed in the deepening of artificial intelligence and data science. How do you think education is changing?
Education may have always been changing, but it is especially changing now because of AI as a tool. Now it’s changing in a different way because the tool is as well available. If I start with what is the biggest problem for me, I think we’re heading towards A A new kind of digital divide Previously, the digital divide meant whether you had access to computers and the Internet. I’m not saying that these problems don’t exist now, but many people today have access to them.
The problem today is more inside the heads of the people who use them. Today we have two types of students: one, those who use artificial intelligence to be smarter; That is, those who use the tool with curiosity and critical thinking. The other group uses artificial intelligence to do this Outsource your mind: Every time someone asks them something, they put it into the computer and receive the answer, without putting in effort, curiosity, critical thinking, and motivation. Over time, one group becomes smarter, the other group stagnates, and the gap between the two groups widens. We are only at the beginning of this process.
I think we’re headed toward a world where… There are people who use and control AI technology, and there are other people who are told what to do by AI. We have like a new social structure: a higher level of the most intelligent people, AI as a tool, and then people who haven’t built the ability to be above AI and stay in another category, at the bottom.
-How can we reduce this gap?
-This is not the time to outsource your mind. This is not the time to put everything into AI and stop thinking. If you use it but are curiously thinking and learning, this is perfect. But if you’re using it to avoid having to think, that’s a mistake. Over time you will pay the cost of not using your mind properly.
– I founded SCET at UC Berkeley, a center for education in innovation and entrepreneurship, where they train and inspire many students and professionals to innovate and create. How do you think students should prepare for the next two, five or 10 years?
“During one of the sessions.”Reinventing higher education“I heard different answers about that. One person said, ‘The more AI you have, the more human skills you need.’ I think that’s true, but it’s not enough. It is a mistake to think that human skills are sufficient. A lot of people say “You just need to think critically” or “You just need to communicate well.” How can you have critical thinking if you don’t know the subject?
-What do you think is one of the biggest technological challenges in the world today?
—Information safety is one of them because it affects our ability to innovate. If you have good, reliable information, you can build something on it, anything. If you can’t trust it, it becomes difficult to build it in our society. It has become difficult to maintain the integrity of information. As is the case with Deep fakes: With just two seconds of your voice, AI can be trained to sound like you and say anything. The voice is no longer necessarily credible. The video may not be credible. The image may not be credible. Text: Was it written by this person? Is it true that he wrote it? It’s all deteriorating. This affects our ability to survive, innovate and improve, as well as our ability to survive Cyber security. It affects in many ways. Maybe we’re not ready. Even if technical systems are, we humans are not. Even high-level security professionals can be fooled by artificial intelligence.
– Who is responsible for protecting everyone and society from all of this?
– Interesting question. We tend to believe that structures exist. In a country there is a government that everyone supports in some way, and its responsibility is to take care of the basics within the country. At the national level there is regulation and you can point to those responsible. But at the global level there is no leader, and there is no “world government.”
Technology and geopolitics are now intertwined. Previously, geopolitics meant: take care of your borders and do what you want inside. Now technology is crossing borders. Technology in everything. So, today we have to ask ourselves whether technology made elsewhere should be allowed to work. You can’t think about geopolitics without also thinking about technology.
-How do you think data and AI education can be democratized? In countries with greater inequality; Latin America, for example.
– AI can become very sophisticated everywhere, but it itself is data-driven. At some point, the capabilities of the LLMs – Extensible Language Models in Spanish – will be similar to each other, but the input data will be different. So, what high-quality data sets does each country or region have that are strategic? It may have a linguistic base, but also other industry or fields. Clean and well-maintained information will be valuable. In short: data will be the difference. High-quality data that each country possesses will be key.
– What advice do you give to university students?
-For students: Learn something real. Don’t think that good communication skills are enough. Don’t think “I ask the AI for everything and that’s it.” You have to be good at the basics before you can do creative and fun things. It may be a bit painful, but choose something you like, that not everyone finds easy, and put in the effort to become good at it.
Additionally, networking is important. Go to places where you can connect with others. I believe a lot in projects. Learning in the classroom is good, but you have to take ownership of your learning: do a project, build something, create a club, generate momentum, or make a real impact. This is what goes on the CV and what they talk about in interviews. Anyone can say ‘I took this subject’ and many can say ‘I got a good grade’. You should be able to say something about yourself by putting knowledge, effort and intensity into something. So: learn the basics, do projects, and connect with others.
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