GEF Madrid 2024: AI and Critical Thinking

Summary

The 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

00:00

🎤 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.

05:01

🤔 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.

10:01

🧠 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.

15:03

🤖 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.

20:05

🏛️ 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.

25:07

🌐 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.

30:08

📚 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.

35:09

🏥 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.

40:10

🔄 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.

Keywords

💡Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze and evaluate information objectively to form a judgment. In the video's context, it is central to discussions on decision-making and ethical dilemmas. For instance, Professor Richard Light uses the concept to explore the ethical implications of paying for a kidney transplant, illustrating how critical thinking can lead to diverse perspectives and conclusions.

💡Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. In the video, AI is discussed in relation to its potential to augment or challenge human critical thinking. The panelists explore whether AI can replicate human judgment and decision-making, especially in complex ethical scenarios.

💡Ethical Dilemmas

Ethical dilemmas are situations that require difficult decisions often involving moral principles. The script uses the example of a kidney transplant to highlight how critical thinking is necessary to navigate such dilemmas. The dilemma is presented to provoke thought on the ethics of paying for an organ transplant, which divides the panelists and the audience.

💡Generative AI

Generative AI is a type of AI that can create new content based on learned patterns. In the video, it is mentioned as a tool that might assist in critical thinking by providing arguments and counterarguments. However, the panelists question whether it can truly replicate the nuanced human ability to weigh ethical considerations.

💡Educational System

The educational system refers to the structured approach to learning, which is a focal point in the discussion about instilling critical thinking skills. Patrick Girma from Ghana talks about the need to move away from rote learning to foster critical thinking from primary education through to tertiary levels.

💡Rote Learning

Rote learning is a method of learning where information is memorized without necessarily understanding its meaning. It is criticized in the video as an approach that does not encourage critical thinking. Patrick Girma emphasizes the need to shift from rote learning to teaching students how to ask the right questions and make informed decisions.

💡Machine Learning

Machine learning is a subset of AI that allows machines to improve at tasks with experience without being explicitly programmed. In the video, it is discussed as a source of information that requires critical evaluation, similar to how one would assess information from a human agent.

💡Policymakers

Policymakers are individuals or groups responsible for making decisions that affect entire communities or societies. In the context of the video, the discussion revolves around how to educate policymakers to effectively use AI and maintain critical thinking in their decision-making processes.

💡Cognitive Abilities

Cognitive abilities refer to the mental capacities or processes such as memory, learning, and understanding. The video discusses how machines can outperform humans in certain cognitive tasks, yet the importance of human critical thinking in judgment and decision-making remains invaluable.

💡Knowledge Officer

A knowledge officer is a professional responsible for overseeing the management and use of knowledge within an organization. In the video, the role of a knowledge officer is highlighted in the context of AI and critical thinking, emphasizing the importance of guiding the integration of AI in a way that supports rather than replaces human judgment.

💡Pedagogy

Pedagogy is the method and practice of teaching, and it is a key concept in the video's discussion on how to teach critical thinking. Mark Kaban, as a chief knowledge officer, talks about the potential of AI in transforming pedagogy to focus on the process of learning and developing durable skills.

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