GEF Madrid 2024: AI and Critical Thinking
Summary
TLDRThe panel discussion explores the intersection of AI and critical thinking, with a focus on ethical dilemmas and decision-making. Professor Richard Light initiates the conversation with a thought experiment about kidney transplants, highlighting the complexity of ethical judgments. Panelists from diverse educational backgrounds emphasize the importance of teaching discernment and critical analysis in the age of AI, discussing the potential of AI as both an educational tool and a challenge to traditional learning methods.
Takeaways
- 📚 The panel discussion revolves around the intersection of AI and critical thinking, with a focus on how AI can augment or challenge human decision-making and ethical considerations.
- 💡 Professor Richard Light introduces the topic by emphasizing the need for a clear definition of critical thinking and its importance in making decisions, particularly in complex ethical dilemmas like the kidney transplant scenario.
- 🔍 The conversation explores the potential of AI to provide arguments and counterarguments, highlighting the machine's capability to process information quickly but also the importance of human discernment in evaluating these arguments.
- 🌐 Patrick Girma from Ghana discusses the challenges of integrating AI into an educational system traditionally based on rote learning, stressing the need to foster critical thinking from an early age to navigate the information provided by AI.
- 🌟 Ben Nelson emphasizes that critical thinking is not a singular concept but a collection of skills, including decision-making, evaluating claims, and understanding implications, which are crucial in the age of AI.
- 🤖 Dan Levy points out the dual nature of AI as both an assistant in critical thinking and a potential tool for students to bypass actual thinking, underscoring the importance of how AI is used in education.
- 🏛 Mark Kaban discusses the role of AI in education transformation, suggesting that it can enable new teaching methodologies focused on the learning process rather than just the outcome, fostering durable skills like critical thinking.
- 🌱 Jeppe Ugelvig expresses optimism about the future of AI in education, envisioning a blend of human judgment and AI-enabled analysis in decision-making and a transformation in how critical thinking skills are taught.
- 🔑 The panelists agree that the value of critical thinking is heightened in the context of AI, as it becomes more important to teach frameworks for thinking, such as cost-benefit analysis and the Golden Rule, to guide the use of technology ethically and effectively.
- 🌱 There is a call to action for educators to guide students in learning how to think about the world critically, using AI as a tool to gather diverse viewpoints and information, while maintaining human-centric values and ethical considerations.
- 🌟 The discussion concludes with a consensus on the inevitability of AI's role in enhancing critical thinking, with a focus on the importance of human intent and ethical frameworks in shaping how technology is used for the betterment of society.
Q & A
What is the significance of Emily's presence and recording in the session?
-Emily's presence is significant as she is recording the session to provide an output in a few weeks, which is expected to offer valuable insights or analysis based on the discussion, adding an additional layer of reflection and commentary on the topics covered.
What is Patrick's role at the university he founded in Ghana?
-Patrick is in charge of the university he founded in Ghana, implying that he holds a leadership or administrative position, likely overseeing the institution's operations and academic direction.
How does Professor Richard Light define critical thinking?
-Professor Richard Light defines critical thinking as the process needed when making decisions, whether personal or societal policy decisions, and emphasizes the importance of having enough information to make a thoughtful and constructive choice.
What is the ethical dilemma presented by Professor Richard Light involving kidney transplants?
-The ethical dilemma involves a scenario where Professor Light, in need of a kidney transplant, offers to pay $100,000 to a healthy individual willing to donate a kidney. The dilemma raises questions about the ethics of paying for organs and the potential inequities it creates.
What was the outcome of the vote among Harvard graduate students regarding the kidney transplant ethical dilemma?
-60% of the Harvard graduate students voted that the agreement between Professor Light and the kidney donor was good and ethical, as both parties benefited and consented voluntarily. The remaining 40% agreed with the medical ethicist's view that the transaction was inequitable.
How does Ben define critical thinking and its components?
-Ben describes critical thinking as not a single entity but a collection of disparate elements, including decision-making, trade-offs, evaluating claims, and understanding when and how to apply various analytical methods such as cost-benefit analysis.
What is the potential role of AI in fostering critical thinking skills according to Dan Levy?
-Dan Levy suggests that AI can be a powerful tool in fostering critical thinking skills by providing arguments and counterarguments, thus assisting in the analytical process. However, he also acknowledges the potential negative impact if AI is used to do work for students without engaging their critical thinking.
What does Mark Kaban suggest about the role of AI in the process of teaching and learning?
-Mark Kaban suggests that AI can be used as a tool in teaching and learning to develop durable skills that sum up to critical thinking. He emphasizes the importance of using AI to enhance the learning process, focusing on how learning unfolds and the moments of engagement in the process.
How does the panel discuss the potential of AI in the context of different educational systems?
-The panel discusses the potential of AI in various contexts, such as Patrick's mention of the need to move away from rote learning in Ghana and towards critical thinking, and Ben's point about the importance of discernment in an age of AI, where compelling arguments can be quickly generated by AI.
What is the panel's consensus on the relationship between AI and critical thinking?
-The panel consensus is that AI is a tool that can be used to enhance or detract from critical thinking, depending on how it is utilized. There is a call for responsible integration of AI in education to foster critical thinking skills and for students to engage with AI as a tool for analysis and decision-making.
Outlines
🎤 Introduction to Panel and Discussion on AI and Critical Thinking
The panel begins with an introduction to the esteemed guests and speakers, including Patrick from Ghana, Jee, B Nelson, Dan Levy, Mark Kaban, and Professor Richard Light from Harvard. The moderator expresses excitement about Emily's future input and outlines the panel's focus on the connection between AI and critical thinking. Professor Richard Light starts the discussion by defining critical thinking and its importance in decision-making, providing two real-world examples to stimulate thought on the topic.
🤔 Ethical Dilemma: The Case of the Kidney Transplant
Professor Light presents an ethical dilemma involving a kidney transplant to illustrate critical thinking. He describes a scenario where he, as a patient in need of a kidney, is offered a transplant by a financially motivated donor. The example is used to explore the complexities of ethics, personal choice, and societal values, leading to a discussion among Harvard students with varied opinions on the matter.
🧠 Critical Thinking and the Role of AI in Education
Patrick from Ghana discusses the importance of critical thinking in education and the challenges it faces with the advent of AI. He emphasizes the need to move away from rote learning and to foster critical thinking from an early age. Patrick also touches on the necessity for students to discern truth from falsehood, especially in the context of AI-generated content.
🤖 AI as an Assistant in Critical Thinking Development
Dan Levy explores the concept of critical thinking, arguing that it is not a singular entity but a collection of skills, including decision-making and evaluating claims. He suggests that AI can be an effective tool in developing these skills, providing arguments and counterarguments迅速, and helping students understand broader implications and consequences.
🏛️ The Integration of AI in Policy and Education
The conversation shifts to the integration of AI in policy-making and education. The speakers discuss the potential of AI to assist in critical thinking and the importance of using it responsibly to avoid undermining human cognitive development. They emphasize the role of educators in guiding students towards good critical thinking practices with AI as a tool.
🌐 AI's Impact on Higher Education and Teaching Methodologies
Mark Kaban discusses the impact of AI on higher education, suggesting that it can be used to enhance teaching and learning by focusing on the process rather than the output. He talks about the potential for AI to support the development of durable skills that are fundamental to critical thinking and the need for institutional coordination in implementing AI effectively.
📚 Critical Thinking in Education: Reinforcing or Transforming?
The panelist, as a knowledge officer, reflects on the role of education in reinforcing existing systems or transforming them. They discuss the potential of AI to automate certain educational tasks, which could either support traditional models of education or be leveraged to foster critical thinking and freedom in learning.
🏥 Public Health Decision-Making and the Value of Information
Richard returns to the conversation with an example of a public health director faced with the decision to approve a new medication based on limited trials. This example is used to highlight the importance of critical thinking in evaluating the sufficiency of information and the potential consequences of decisions.
🔄 Final Thoughts on AI, Critical Thinking, and Education
In the closing remarks, the panelists reflect on the discussion, emphasizing the importance of critical thinking in various contexts and the role of AI as a tool to augment human judgment. They express optimism about the future of education and the development of critical thinking skills in an AI-assisted environment.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Critical Thinking
💡Artificial Intelligence (AI)
💡Ethical Dilemmas
💡Generative AI
💡Educational System
💡Rote Learning
💡Machine Learning
💡Policymakers
💡Cognitive Abilities
💡Knowledge Officer
💡Pedagogy
Highlights
Introduction of Emily, an AI recording the session with output to be given in a few weeks.
Patrick Girma from Ghana discusses the importance of critical thinking in decision-making and ethical dilemmas.
The ethical dilemma of paying for a kidney transplant raises questions about equity and the role of AI in decision support.
The role of AI in providing arguments and counterarguments to complex ethical scenarios.
Dan Levy emphasizes the need for discernment in evaluating AI-generated information.
Mark Kaban discusses the potential of AI to transform education and develop durable skills like critical thinking.
The debate on whether AI is beneficial or detrimental to the development of critical thinking skills.
The importance of teaching frameworks for thinking, such as the Golden Rule, alongside technology use.
Jeppe Christiansen's optimism about the future integration of AI in augmenting human decision-making.
Ben Nelson's perspective on the failure of higher education to teach critical thinking and the opportunity AI presents.
The necessity to move away from rote learning to foster critical thinking from an early educational stage.
The role of AI in the process of teaching and learning to develop critical thinking skills.
The potential of AI to assist in project design and the generation of text in education.
The discussion on how AI can help decide questions where values need to be included in the analysis.
The inevitability of AI's impact on education and the development of critical thinking, according to the panelists.
The panel's consensus on the importance of critical thinking in the context of AI and its potential to shape human intent.
Transcripts
with very esteemed guests and
speakers um just a little announcement
you heard in one of the sessions before
that Emily is also present and is
recording and will give us output in a
few weeks time so that's very exciting
so um looking forward to seeing what
Emily has to say um I'd love to
introduce you to our speakers um we've
got Patrick uh gimma from uh Aya from
Ghana
uh Patrick has founded a university
there and he's in charge of University
um and I'm sure you'll tell us more
about it then we've got Jee who is uh
very much involved with S as far as I
believe then we've got B Nelson on my
left uh founder of the minova project in
the minova University Dan Levy who is at
Harvard a lectur senior lecturer at the
Kennedy Center and Mark kaban who is
very involved in um as a chief knowledge
officer in the um examined leadership
Collective and online we've also got
Professor Richard light from Harvard who
can't be in here uh in with us in person
but he sent us a contribution and he'll
be hoping to join us in the discussion
remotely but very much in presence so
let's start with Richard's uh
contribution
hello I am Professor Richard light LT
just like light bulb and I'm recording
this at Harvard my University it is a
privilege to start off this panel about
connections between Ai and critical
thinking I'm especially enthusiastic
because with our incredibly
distinguished panel I'm pleased to try
to clearly Define those words critical
thinking what do they mean they're often
discussed these words by my most
talented faculty friends and colleagues
where I teach and my observation is
we're well served by an effort to Define
what exactly is critical thinking and
can we give a just two real world
concrete examples of how students might
want to think about it then the work of
this group of experts on the panel can
pursue more connections to artificial
intelligence generative AI chat GPT here
is what I view as two concrete and
entirely different ways of defining
critical thinking for our many students
at any good University anywhere in the
world I want to share my view that the
best kinds of critical thinking are
Illustrated when a decision needs to be
made it could be a personal life
decision for any individual or it could
be a a societal policy decision for
example example one I believe critical
thinking is needed when anyone is
deciding do I have enough information to
make a choice a decision put another way
how much information do I need before I
can make a thoughtful and constructive
choice now I can always ask the question
do I have enough information now if I
need more how much more more a second
example I'm going to make it personal
it's about critical thinking ethical
dilemmas ethics can often be complex and
here's one that I find
straightforward I have posed this to my
Harvard graduate students in a moment
I'll tell you what my class of 40
students said how they voted the ethical
dilemma that requires critical thinking
is this I as most people I have two
kidneys and I'm not so young anymore and
my kidneys may be failing my doctors
here at an excellent Hospital in Boston
or Madrid or New York or anywhere else
tell me I definitely need a kidney
transplant to survive for another 5 to
10 years so I advertise in a local
newspaper and online that I will pay
someone if they'll donate one of their
two healthy kidneys they can live on one
kidney so it can be transplanted into me
and I'm assuming Health factors like
blood types would be good matches
suppose I receive a response from all
100 Smith a middle-aged man in in Madrid
he's in excellent Health he has two good
kidneys and he can use some money he
says Mr light I'll donate my kidney to
you you can receive a transplant of my
healthy kidney and I'll only charge you
$100,000 it could save your life your
$100,000 will certainly improve and
enrich my life if you pay me for
basically selling you my kidney and I
have my other kidney well what's the
point the point is I Richard light I'm
not super rich but I could afford to pay
$100,000 to stay alive so Alejandro
Smith and I agree as consenting adults
to this transaction Mr Smith will donate
one of his kidneys at a large Hospital
in Madrid it will be transplanted Into
Me by excellent surgeons he only needs
one healthy kidney to live a complete
life and that's what he'll have after he
donates his one other kidney to meet but
wait the director of ethics for this
Madrid Hospital announces this may not
be ethical most people or many people
simply could not afford to do this to
pay $100,000 for a new kidney even when
it could save a life so says the ethics
director it is unethical or inequitable
for Richard light Professor light to
receive a new kidney just because he is
financially pretty well off now I would
reply nonsense there's no ethical
problem Alejandro Smith and I are two
middle-age High Highly Educated
consenting adults we both agree will
benefit from this entirely voluntary
transaction my quality of life will
clearly benefit a lot it'll save my life
indeed saving my life is a big deal so
I'll benefit Mr Smith will receive a
substantial and entirely voluntary
payment for me for his being kind enough
to donate one of his two kidneys so his
quality of life will benefit from having
far more resources how can that that not
be ethical when both parties choose to
do this thoughtfully and voluntarily and
both parties benefit from their happy
agreement if you find it entertaining I
asked my Harvard students to think about
this exact dilemma and to make their
judgments and they voted using secret
ballots so no student knew who else in
the class voted how they voted here are
the results 60% of Harvard graduate
students voted yes the agreement is a
good one both parties benefit it's
clearly entirely voluntary
meanwhile the other 40% voted with the
medical ethicist at the hospital they
viewed the transaction as inequitable
because not everyone can afford to buy a
a kidney therefore they argued no one
should be able to buy a kidney I view
this simple example as a wonderful
example of critical thinking it is from
The Real World it's something that
actually happens perhaps we can quickly
agree no answer is always obviously
right there's space for reasonable and
very smart people to disagree on their
Solutions so I will now conclude I view
the these two examples as good examples
of where it might be challenging to use
generative AI or chat GPT just believing
it will provide an answer or a solution
this is not like 2x equals 10 solve for
x and the answer is five and we need you
know we need help getting an answer this
is Judgment it involves making
trade-offs between different core values
how do we trade off societal Equity with
the right and the willingness of two
Consulting adults who both agree they're
going to benefit from an agreement
perhaps Ai and chat GPT can point out
this challenge of coming to inclusion
conclusion I wonder if AI can ever
replicate a human being's capacity for
critical thinking so now thank you for
your patience I will subside and I will
turn it over to our distinguished
panelist
this entire panel is not about kidney
transplants or antibiotics but I hope
these two I think simple examples serve
as helpful introductions to what the
words critical thinking might even mean
when working with artificial
intelligence panel I now turn it over to
you thank you for your patience for
these few
minutes thank you very much Richard um I
believe Richard has thrown thrown us
quite a gauntlet um so onto critical
thinking Ai and a bit of Ethics clearly
thrown in Patrick I would like to start
with you because obviously your
university is in a very different
context to this argument and AI is
obviously also on your mind and your
students mind and your teachers mind as
well as critical thinking so how would
you kind of look at Ai and critical
thinking in your context just having
heard what has told us and this is not
about kidney transplants you know U yeah
I I
understand
um so look I think that uh AI presents
um incredible opportunities and it also
presents some very interesting
challenges and one example I like to
share is that you know when you think
about critical
thinking um at the base of it is
figuring out things like what are the
right questions to
ask um what what is the information that
you need to make a decision what
information is relevant or not
relevant and it is also about being able
to connect the dots between
different uh sources of information and
synthesizing an answer to to your
question now um
questions like what represents a
truth are important when you're making
decisions it used to be that um we could
for
example consider video and audio as
evidence it's just they represent the
truth uh we couldn't necessarily
consider text as evidence a long time
ago people thought if it was written it
must be true
but you know because we teach critical
thinking we we teach people to look at
different texts look at different
evidence apply reasoning to coming
coming up with a decision of what a
truth well it turns out that with
generative AI we're going to have to
apply that with video and audio as well
so this morning there was a a big
discussion about you know establishing
laws that um try to hold platforms
responsible
for uh you know putting out untruths or
wrong information generated by Ai and
that's all well and good but it is also
critically important that we we teach
critical thinking so people can also if
they are exposed to wrong information
that they can do that
analysis we've also in my context in
Ghana um our educational system has been
very steeped in Road learning for a very
long
time uh since the colonial days till
even quite
recently now if you educate people's
minds by root learning to
accept information that they read or
they
see you
basically are educating people in a way
so that when they encounter wrong
information
they're not able to make that
discernment and so in our context one of
our challenges is to make sure that we
completely step away from Road learning
and really push uh critical thinking
from much earlier in the educational
system from primary education to
secondary education through tertiary
education those are just my first few
thoughts that I'd want to share on this
question and are you looking at
including AI in in that context or or
are you are you leaving AI out for the
moment well um so AI is let's call it a
machine agent a machine
intelligence and you know in the same
way that will'll say to students you can
do work and you can look at information
from Human agents and you have to apply
a certain discipline and approach to um
interrogating that information you you
need to do that with machine agents as
well and
so I just think of it as you know a
machine a machine intelligence and
there's different kinds where there's
things coming out of machine learning
algorithms there's things coming out of
llms whatever you're doing with an AI
you need to understand that um your
ability to reason
yourself in your interaction action with
this machine or in your interaction with
information generated by this machine is
important thank you Ben having heard
what Patrick has to say you your
students operate in a very different
context to the Ghan context and to
Patrick's University so how do you kind
of look at the critical thinking and
what makes us human with the machine at
vura yeah so um oh there we
go so I I I think it's it is important
to actually you know maybe complete the
thought that Richard started which is
the definition of critical thinking I
think examples are lovely but they're
not particularly useful um because
critical thinking as we we talk about it
we talk about critical thinking as a
thing critical thinking is a fiction uh
it is it does not exist as a thing it is
a catchment for a number of disperate
things right making a decision tradeoff
do I take path a or path B is a form of
critical thinking to make decision
trade-offs you may apply a cost benefit
analysis for example right and then you
have to learn how to apply cost benefit
analysis and you also have to understand
when to apply cost benefit analyses
right at the same time you can also
evaluate claims has actually potentially
nothing to do with making decisions
whatsoever somebody makes a claim you
have to now evaluate whether or not that
claim is true or not true is it a fact
or is it a fiction but there are various
ways of evaluating claims and sometimes
one of those ways has nothing to do with
other types of
methodologies right and so when you
think about what is it that is in this
basket of things known as critical
thinking you then have to unpack Haack
certain elements of what it is that we
can train ourselves and what it is that
we can train the machine and it turns
out the machine is actually quite good
at a bunch of things right so for
example in the kidney
example you can ask AI today what would
you do in this scenario and AI would say
oh you know well if there are two
Consulting adults and uh and here it is
then it's perfectly fine and then you
can tell the AI okay give me the counter
argument and I will immediately give you
the counterargument and do so vastly
better than most students can
instantly the differences and I think
this is what Patrick was talking about
which is crucial is this idea of
discernment right to be able to to be
able to discern not just what is the
argument and the
counterargument but to think about the
implications to think about what do it
mean in the grand system of Life of laws
of justice of what makes sense and what
doesn't make sense what are the
unintended consequences the second and
third order effects the emergent
elements that come out of that and so
critical thinking is a component that
becomes that much more important to
train to train
systematically in Learners in an age of
AI because AI will present compelling
arguments very compelling arguments very
quickly right around one p perspective
or another and we have to understand how
it is that we need to be able to discern
using that kind of information and
Analysis that it generate generates and
how we make broader understanding of
decision trade-offs understanding claims
understanding inferences and other
elements thank you
Dan we heard in a previous session that
cognitively the machines and the
integration of the machines way out
perform human
beings um and will continue to do so you
know they're in that sense smarter than
us um so the argument and and listening
to Ben and Patrick the argument for you
know this concept of critical thinking
becomes even bigger
yet we don't necessarily all know the
full extent of what critical thinking
means and you being based in kind of
more of the policy Center of of um
Harvard and you work with
policymaking how would you translate
that to policy makers who might actually
struggle with you know we've heard about
Road learning we've heard about systems
that don't necessarily engage with that
very well so how would you kind of look
at this and then you know look at that
in the context of AI and us as
humans thank
you thank you um so I think I I like the
way that Ben described um AI maybe a
little bit as an assistant in thinking
yeah uh so maybe it can give you the
arguments and the
counterarguments um I think there are
there are days that I'm optimistic about
AI ai's ability to be an assistant to us
in critical thinking um and there are
days where I'm very pessimistic so let
me start with a pessimistic so I can at
least end in a good note on the
pessimistic side uh I think we all know
that there's the possibility of getting
the AI tool as a student to do the work
for you and if that happens then I'm not
sure much critical thinking is being
developed I'm not sure any thinking is
being developed the brain hasn't engaged
on the other hand uh in the way that uh
Ben described uh using the AI where you
can ask for arguments where you can ask
for counterarguments so that's very
different from the kind of Road learning
that Patrick was describing I think the
AI can be in incredibly powerful Tool uh
for fostering critical thinking skills
so I guess I conclude by saying I don't
think AI is either good or bad for
critical thinking I think it all depends
on how we use it and I think role as
Educators is to think about using it in
ways that nudge your students towards um
good critical thinking building and
nudge them away from uh uses of the tool
that don't Foster that kind of thinking
and I think that's true for students and
for policy makers and for anyone thank
you thank you thank you
jese you're part of the organization
that's organizing this conference you've
heard you know already some very
different views on critical thinking but
they all chime with each other
so what's happening
ATK I'll answer that question uh just
trying to pull together a little bit the
the comments that were made uh up until
now I
think the you know sometimes when we
associate these words critical thinking
in AI uh there's different lenses
through which to view uh the topic no so
that one lens is this sort of um
literacy lens right the very short term
we need to give our students as our
professionals um a minimum understanding
of what AI is and the potential dangers
of it and the ability to interpret um
and to not you know uh go after uh false
facts and so on and so forth so there's
this literacy angle the other Maybe more
interesting more complex is what Ben was
talking about this sort of augmentation
way of viewing critical thinking and AI
right I think we can and we will get to
a point where decision- making is a
blend of human and machine um right in
any decision there's an element of
pattern recognition of of hypothesis
based on on data that's very good in
terms of the machine providing then
there's an element of pure judgment
which is based on culture on context and
so on that's the human side right what
Ben was referring to and so we need to
move towards this idea of augmentation
of of intelligence of human intelligence
and the third is how do we actually use
AI in the process of teaching and
learning to develop what Ben refers to
often as durable skills right which are
these ones that then sum up to a kind of
critical thinking so I think there as
well AI can be a very powerful tool in
the sense of allowing us to engage in Te
teaching and learning col them
methodologies that are less you know
focused on say the exam or the test and
more on the process of learning right
how do the process of learning unfold
what are the moments in that process
that the student engages and and how do
they and and then you know not so much
the output right and so again things
that theoretically we know are the right
way to teach and learn but have been
impossible from a scale point of view
because of the resources uh dedicated so
at s like in any institutions I'm not
going to say that we solved this because
we haven't we're just starting that
Journey um I think it has to do with
creating a sort of coordinating
mechanism at at an Institutional level
that is able to not go after you know
the next flashy object but rather think
through um you know the implication of
these different levels pilot different
solutions and eventually scale right to
to get to that system transformation
that George was referring to earlier
right if not it's just individuals
chasing whatever it is today the flavor
of the month um and at the end of the
day you get uh sort of a big mess uh in
my view thank
you Mark you're a knowledge
officer so having listened to all our
peers on the panel and to Richard's
initial
arguments how do you as a knowledge
officer look at
this problem or I should say
opportunity thank
you one thing that I was thinking about
during this discussion is maybe the
different definitions of critical
thinking that we might have had coming
into this
conversation in in one sense critical
thinking can be what we call higher
order thinking skills which is about
decision- making which is what Richard
talked about it's about collaboration
creativity um you know sour paper talks
about this um and constructivism right
most education like you were talking
about Patrick whz has been in the
instructionist kind of world and most of
the AI technology is fitting really well
into that so it's kind of reinforcing
that type of
education but I come to the conversation
with another line of thinking around
critical thinking in the way that frer
talks about it um where we have the
banking system of Education which is
kind of these deposits that are being
made these deposits are lectures they're
tasks s their exercises and some of them
have been really helpful for valuable
thinking of students and some of those
things can be now um skipped and
bypassed through the different
technologies that we have um and so if
I'm looking at it at a big picture
education can either be an instrument
for
reinforcing the present logic onto the
current generations for the current
systems that we have and thus create
conformity
or can be a practice of Freedom um and
that means transforming upon the world
and trying to really change it um when I
I was thinking about what I want to talk
about today and um since we're in Spain
I thought about one of the first things
that I learned when my family moved to
California and we had a fourth grade
project I was a 9-year-old kid just came
from Lebanon and the first project that
we did was learning about the Spanish
Miss missions in California um and that
education project was about memorizing
timelines dates figures writing it in a
paper presenting it um and then we went
on a field trip uh to a watershed in San
Diego for the Kumi people they're the
indigenous people of what we call San
Diego and
Tijana and that was the first uh big
water project that was created on the
West Coast by the
Spanish many many many years later I
found myself in a position of teaching
critical pedagogy
in the fian sense and so I took my
students back to this Watershed my
students are inservice teachers so they
are teaching at the hiakai at the time
at the hiakai school system and we
started by having tea uh at at the
Watershed and having a conversation
around their first realization of them
being a settler on Kumi land what has
been their Journey with that and then
asking them to make predictions about
what they were going to see in the
Watershed that day and having a little
notebook with them writing down their
notes write their wonderings their
predictions of what they were going to
see and then I just asked them to to
walk throughout the park and if you walk
through this park there is these
exhibits that accompany you all the way
to the Watershed to the water dam and
they tell the story of this place they
say things like the Kumi used to live
with the seasons of the water flow but
the Spanish needed a more consistent
supply of water um which they don't tell
you what it was for which which is for
their ranches and for their their
colonies that they created and so um can
you guess how they solved the water
problem that was the question on the
plaque and so positions the Spanish as
innovators who are solving problems
right you can think that's some of the
decisions that's some of the definitions
that we what we're saying is critical
thinking that they're problem solving
they're making decisions right and so at
the end of this uh when we arrived at
the Watershed at the end uh we had a
conversation about what we
saw and I I introduced a small chapter
about the history of theft of the
watersheds in s Diego the annexation of
these of these places and how kumia
people were moved farther and farther
east into the mountains losing their
Weds so as soon as we had that
conversation so we read a new text we
introduced a new text there was no AI so
in some way I was Walling off that
possibility so we can have a discussion
and the next class we did a project I
said okay you are all teaching right now
some of my students are third grade
English history teachers others were
Middle School Math teachers and we did a
project design and I can imagine in the
future when I teach this class again
that that AI can be very helpful in the
project design piece as well I haven't
done it since a since J of AI has been
out but you know my third grade teacher
ended up working with her third graders
to go through a process of trying to
rewrite all of the exhibits in the park
and they did this by interviewing people
like Stanley Rodriguez a Kumi Elder
coming up with the
questions um they even had discussions
with them about what was written on the
current plaques and what they thought
about it and so the generation of text
in the exercise was just an in it was a
coin an it was a result of the process
of critical thinking of what's being
told in this and what's not being told
and so there's all sorts of um
possibilities that can come from another
math teacher in that class she ended up
creating a visual map of the water sheds
being stolen from the Kumi over time
since the Spanish arrival and now at
Hightech there's a small contingency of
teachers that are are building on this
uh this Legacy of this class where
they're going to other colonized spaces
in San Diego that have these certain
narratives one of them is Spanish
Landing where they tell the story of the
Spanish arriving in San Diego another
one is Oldtown which is the first
mission in San Diego and so we've been
we've been doing this across all these
different spaces um so that's what I'll
kind of say for now of of another
perspective on what critical thinking
could be okay thank you uh we've got
Richard back online uh Richard I hope
you've uh managed to hear everybody um
present their argument for want of a
better word um how would you react now
having planted the first seat seat uh
around the kidney transplant which we
ventured away from uh quite radically I
would say um so how would you like to
come back um and and sort of um you know
augment our
discussion thank you for oops we can't
hear
you we can't hear
Richard sorry Richard we just have a a
little problem hearing
you yeah oh yes we can hear you now yes
can you can you hear me now is it about
right absolutely yes okay good so I'm
just going I'm just going to talk for
three minutes and I'll begin by saying
this is a excellent excellent
conversation um uh I find myself
agreeing with my wonderful colleague Dan
Ley in particular which is not
surprising because he and I talk about
these topics um let me just make one
point um it's it seems to me that
critical thinking is especially valuable
it's a big plus um when when any person
asks the question do I have enough
information to make a choice or a
decision or put another way how much
information is needed before I can make
a thoughtful and constructive Choice um
I could always ask for example do I have
enough information now to make a
decision and if I need more how much
more Let me give a simple very short
example it really will be short suppose
any one of you were the public health
director in a country in fact why don't
we make it the public health director in
Spain
suppose a hundred years ago uh a patient
a child arrived and that child had a
strep throat now if we POS this dilemma
100 years ago there was no cure for STP
throat so in other words there was a
risk of serious illness for many weeks
and some a few people even died suppose
a research team in Madrid at a really
good University
came up with a new medication and they
decided to call it
penicillin and they tried it on one
child who had strep throat as an
experiment and the child recovered
beautifully in 72 hours then they tried
it on three more patients that's a total
of four people and all four recovered
then they tried it on six more that's a
total of 10 patients all 10 recovered
should the Public Health director for
the for Spain for the entire
nation um approve and uh argue in favor
of giving penicillin to children who
have Str throat in other words it's 10 a
large enough sample I'm coming to my
conclusion now the conclusion is
statisticians and I happen to be a
statistician I teach statistics among
other topics um statisticians have rules
for this but there are special
situations such as when the cost of
making a mistake could be very high such
as children being sick uh or worse and
so let me just say this is a case where
if we can figure out how to use
artificial generative artificial
intelligence to help us decide questions
where values where values such as the
value of recovering quickly the risk of
of having someone die um can be somehow
included in the artificial intelligence
analyses that would be terrific for cl
critical thinking I hope that's
help we kind of getting close to the end
of this panel so having heard everyone I
just want to go around all of you to
just sort of um you know React to what
Richard has just said but also what your
peers have just as just said we've got
very different flavors of what critical
thinking is for a start which I was
hoping would come out because there is
not one flavor for it um and obviously
it also is very contextual in the way it
is kind of uh addressed and applied as
uh jeppe also pointed out um so your
last two cents worth please Patrick can
I start with
you well um
so it seems to me that um with
technology what technology does is it
multiplies human
intent and AI is a
particularly powerful
technology now we need to really focus
on educating human intent and we've had
a discussion we've talked about what are
the right questions you have enough
questions making
decisions but really at the end of the
day we also have to teach certain
Frameworks for thinking so a very simple
one is a golden
rule uh this morning we heard about you
know one of the things that makes us
human is we
love um and we so and and love means
you're able to imagine yourself in
somebody else's shoes and you're able to
ask a simple question
if I were in that
position what decision would I want and
I think that the example that Richard
started was a brilliant example
because um you know if you if you stood
in the shoes
of the person in Mexico and the person
in the US who are doing this transaction
you make a certain decision if you stand
in in another set of shoes you make a
different decision
and in that example as
Educators we would need to take the next
step with those student to have them
describe what framework were they using
what data and how are they valuing like
you have multiple sets of data and how
are you assigning what weights are you
assigning to each one so these kinds of
Frameworks cost benefit analysis the
Golden Rule critical mass we need to
teach these sorts of
things and and then when they engage
with technology to get more information
or to help them answer questions they
can apply those tools to make those
discernments
now Ben uh gave a really interesting
example of using the AI to give you
counterarguments so getting more data
more different points of view
this is one of the things that we need
to start
teaching as a system for using
technology is asking the technology to
help you get different points of
view but at the end we also need to be
engaging in conversations with students
we are the their guides and we're
helping them through a process of
learning how to think about the world um
and in that way we shape human intent
and then hopefully that means that they
then use the technology for the right
things I think this is a fantastic way
of summarizing the session but giving
you all 10 seconds now because we're
running out of time um jeppe how would
you respond to this 10 seconds is tough
but I will say I'm not only optimistic I
think it's notable I think we'll get
over the scare which right now you know
reduces this call for literacy and we'll
move quickly to augmentation meaning any
judgment any decision will be a
combination of human judgment and AI
enabled analysis and finally I think
we're going to be able to transform
education the way in which durable
skills which underpin critical thinking
are actually taught and so for me it's
not even optimistic it's inevitable yeah
thank you Ben yeah I I'll Echo that I I
think what's important to understand is
to be grounded in reality higher
education as a sector has failed toach
each critical thinking for decades uh we
just haven't done it and I know it's on
every website I know it's in every claim
they're all lies all thirdparty
assessments of higher education shows
uniform failure uniform across every
institution and traditional model across
every methodology today the teaching of
critical thinking is vastly more
important and if we are going to
approach it incrementally we're going to
fail again yeah thank you
done copy and paste what Ben just said
okay thank you I like having Ben on the
the panel because he makes me seem so
optimistic which is unusual for me and I
and I 10 seconds I would say that I
disagree with that I mean right now in
the US there's over 140 universities
that have encampments on them if you
talk to those students they would say
that we are practicing critical thinking
connected to our values to change the
world other people have different
opinions about that I think as Leaders
we're going to have to figure out what's
our response to that is it going to be
dialogue and collaboration or is it
going to be exercising asymmetrical
power thank you I'd like to thank
everyone on this panel uh for this
discussion we have a long way to go I
think uh in with regards to critical
thinking but echoing jeppe it's
inevitable so let's go for it thank you
Richard for joining
us thank you thank
you sorry I had to be a bit strict thank
you thank you so much you did a great
job that that was a very difficult task
for you well because I Richard thre me
th threw us a big curve ball because his
argument was
very ethics
based so that was but that was good
because
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