Page 9 - FIS World Oct 2019 Web

to space exploration and said, “Space is a very dif- ficult environment and man cannot do every task. Machines are needed.” Mr. Donati further explained that AI allows humanlike learning to occur in places like Mars where humans are currently unable to go. “AI is an important enabler for new technolo- gies,” he added.
Knowing how to understand, use and apply AI will be critical for the future of both teaching and learning.
- Dr. Fochtman
Dr. Murat Ünal, an FIS parent and co-founder of SONEAN, brought the discussion back to earth and said,“Narrow AI (artificial intelligence applied to very specific tasks) is here to assist us, not to replace us.” As an expert in data and network analytics, Dr. Ünal said that “combining human intelligence with ma- chine intelligence gets better results,” and that “we should use technology to empower human beings.”
Mr. de Witte introduced the concept of the Centaur, a mythological Greek creature made up of half-man and half-horse, to encapsulate Mr. Ünal’s assertion. He said,“Humans have special skills which machines do not...imagination and compassion,” for instance. He explained that the Centaur model suggests a hybrid entity whereby combining human and computer is superior to each working independently.
FIS Head of School Dr. Paul Fochtman confirmed his belief in the Centaur model when asked a question
by a young student in the audience. The boy asked if and when super robots will be the only teachers in classrooms. Dr. Fochtman said that he doesn’t be- lieve that students “...will ever be solely taught by ro- bots,”but rather that“teachers will be augmented by the power of them.”
Dr. Fochtman spoke further about AI in education by saying, “We are in a transformational time. Knowing how to understand, use and apply AI will be critical for the future of both teaching and learning.”
Mr. de Witte offered some career advice to the au- dience suggesting that workers need to retrain and stay away from fields like radiology for instance, be- cause a computer can perform such tasks better than a human. He offered his list of important 21st century skills, “...critical thinking, creative thinking, communications and collaborative and team skills.”
During the panel discussion, Mr. de Witte was also asked about the role privacy plays in AI now and in the future. He responded,“Privacy is important, but in the future it will be hard to have privacy.”Panelist Dr. Bettina Rowlands, an FIS parent and expert on prod- uct innovation of consumer goods added, “Society needs to decide what core values we will not give up."
Toward the end of the evening, Dr. Ünal reminded the audience that AI should be viewed as a tool, an assis- tant or a peer.“The human brain has 100 billion neu- rons, and we haven’t even figured out how this com- plex network is connected,”he said.“Machines can’t replace us. AI will simply empower us to do better.”
Emmett Kelly
FIS Parent
In addition
to student assemblies
and breakout sessions during the day, Bart de Witte also packed the auditorium during his evening keynote presentation
October 2019 FIS World 7