Kim Man-gon's Education Column AI Is Calling for a Reset of School Functions

I overheard a conversation while entering a shop looking for the owner. When a visitor said "this profession will be permanent," the owner seemed satisfied. But the visitor regrettably added, "the first profession to disappear will be teaching," because teachers' work can easily be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI).

What grounds does he have for saying such a thing? Does he view AI as a panacea? As a former teacher, it was uncomfortable to hear, but there was no need to get into an argument, so I found a conversational AI after leaving. "Will the teaching profession soon disappear?" It will! Or will it not! There were conditions, but it is a profession with very low risk of disappearing.

Why? Because the importance of creativity, problem-defining ability, critical thinking and verification ability, communication, collaboration, emotional intelligence, AI utilization ability (AI literacy), and complex strategic and decision-making ability is becoming increasingly valuable. Research institutions like UNESCO, OECD, and McKinsey also noted that 20-40% of teachers' work can be automated, but core roles such as counseling, motivation, classroom management, and relationship building are difficult to automate.

The core of a teacher's role lies in social and moral judgment that only humans can make, student understanding and counseling, reflection of educational philosophy, and lesson design. The conclusion was that there is little concern about the profession disappearing, but it is a profession whose role will change significantly.

So, should we continue with what we are doing until this unprecedented change arrives? That probably should not be the case. Who brings about change? AI has already drawn near, urging us to relinquish mechanical and repetitive tasks, and there seems to be pressure for changes in work. If so, it would be more smooth to first reestablish a new direction for education. I believe we are now being called upon to go beyond discussions about the role of schools and teachers and more actively make judgments about the value of schools and education.

Today's students are individuals. We are no longer in the era of mass education modeled on factories aimed at mass production. Different perspectives on this lead to different educational outcomes. Schools can no longer assert their value by having students mechanically and repetitively memorize knowledge. We must reconsider what education schools should provide.

Schools should not be places where students are forced to 'follow' rules, but rather places where they 'learn about' rules. Schools should be places that allow students to 'experience' how precious it is for them to follow rules they have set for themselves. Enforcing rule compliance is never educational. This is especially true if the rules are not set by the students themselves.

Similarly, schools should not be places where one must study well. They should be places where students who are already good at what they have not even learned live together with students who have learned but are making little progress. Before blaming students for not studying well, it is natural to change the teaching method.

Schools must reflect on whether they are creating abnormal educational scenes, and whether there are cases where students who do not study well from the start or do not follow rules well from the start are treated as abnormal. If students already study well and follow rules well, there is no reason to learn at school. If we say "kids, have a discussion but don't fight!" and they never fight until graduation or throughout their lives, who would worry and why? Would there be a need to give credentials to people who have studied pedagogy thoroughly and ask them to teach well?

From that perspective, I wonder if the reason students do not protest about why they are not given sufficient learning opportunities according to their individuality is because these students are still naive, and we are in an era where education does not need to fully function (and they do not protest).

Two children are absorbed in games on a bench in the dim courtyard of an apartment. There is worry that today's children, spending their time playing games, will have no memories to cherish when they grow up. Just as adults yearn for their childhoods spent roaming mountains and fields, these children may yearn for their childhoods spent absorbed in games like this, and we should recognize that this can evoke precious and subtle nostalgia for them.

In the process of this unprecedented change, AI has appeared as a partner that accelerates and expedites this transformation.