The Human Factor: Cultivating Essential Skills in the Age of AI

Despite ed tech’s incredible potential to deliver personalized, tailored learning, learners still have a vital role to play in their learning process. (I shared my thoughts about that issue in a previous article, “Navigating the Future of Learning by Doubling Down on the Basics”.)

But playing that role effectively requires learners to cultivate some essential skills. That’s what I dig into with this piece; and I’ll contextualize this framework within the current buzz around Generative AI.

GenAI is great. Even at an early stage, its capabilities are impressive, and the near- to medium-term applications as this technology advances will revolutionize how we search, synthesize, and share ideas and the ways we learn, work, and interact. That said, the promise of faster, smarter, and easier can only be realized if we recognize GenAI’s limitations.

Here is what I mean: GenAI does and will continue to provide more sophisticated learning tools. However, learning that leads to meaningful expertise will always require learner agency. Even with astonishing new technology at our disposal, we all still have decisions to make, actions to take, creative inspiration to nurture, and feelings to, well...feel.

Let’s outline three competencies fundamental to learning—three competencies that could be augmented or enhanced by AI, but will never be fully enabled by technology alone: Goal-setting, attention, and creativity.

Goal-Setting

Goal-setting is like plotting a course on a map for a road trip. When incorporated as an active part of the learning process, it can provide a clear direction, enhance motivation, and facilitate measurable progress. Whether you are a student, a professional, or a lifelong learner, setting well-defined goals can significantly impact your success and fulfillment. Why?

Goals act as a compass, guiding you toward your desired outcomes. Without clear goals, the sheer volume of information and tasks can quickly become overwhelming, resulting in a lack of direction and focus. AI can support goal-setting. Well-defined goals help you prioritize your efforts, ensuring that your time and energy are spent productively. For example, a student who sets a clear goal “to master algebraic equations by the end of the semester” will be more successful than a student whose goal is “to get better at math.”

Having specific, attainable goals can also significantly boost your motivation. Goals provide a sense of purpose and something to strive towards. Each milestone achieved reinforces your commitment and encourages you to keep moving forward. This continuous cycle of establishing and achieving goals builds momentum and keeps you engaged in the learning process.

What’s more, goals provide a benchmark against which you can measure your progress. Just as fitness enthusiasts track their running times or weights lifted to see improvement, learners can assess their performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and adjust strategies accordingly. In other words, setting goals goes hand in hand with the process known as metacognition—an awareness and understanding of one’s thought processes.

Lastly, the process of setting and working towards goals encourages self-reflection and personal growth. It helps you understand your strengths, weaknesses, and preferences, fostering a deeper awareness of yourself as a learner. This self-knowledge is empowering; it gives you the agency to tailor your learning experiences to better suit your needs and aspirations.

Developing a stronger attention span

While goal-setting is crucial for achieving success, developing a strong attention span is akin to cultivating a garden—results come only with patience, effort, and regular nurturing. In a world of 10-second sound bites, highly engaging—even addictive—social media, and an internet full of way too much information for any of us to meaningfully synthesize, the ability to focus deeply on a single task for an extended period is becoming increasingly rare and valuable.

Reading is a powerful way to develop and enhance attention span. When you sit down with a book, you immerse yourself in a continuous flow of text that requires sustained focus and concentration. This uninterrupted engagement trains your brain to block out distractions and maintain attention over longer periods. Reading also involves active mental processes such as visualizing scenes, tracking plotlines, and comprehending complex ideas, all of which demand sustained cognitive effort. By consistently dedicating time to reading, you gradually increase your ability to concentrate, making it easier to stay focused on other tasks, be it academic or professional.

Fostering Creativity

In any learning journey, fostering creativity is an essential element that can keep you motivated and engaged. Creativity extends beyond artistic expression; it is a vital skill that enhances your ability to solve problems, innovate, and think critically.

One of the key aspects of creativity is that it transcends rote memorization and the acquisition of specific facts. While knowledge of facts is important, the ability to think creatively allows you to apply this knowledge in novel and meaningful ways—an absolutely critical skill for anybody who hopes to differentiate themselves in an increasingly complex job market.

We have the unique ability to empathize, imagine, and reflect. Creativity leverages these uniquely human attributes, enabling you to approach learning with curiosity, empathy, and imagination.

Creativity plays a significant role in making you an active and thoughtful participant in the learning process. Critical analysis of words and data involves looking beyond the surface to understand deeper meanings and patterns. This analytical skill is enhanced by creative thinking, which allows you to connect disparate pieces of information and draw insightful conclusions – for example, a scientist might use creative thinking to link findings from different studies, leading to a groundbreaking discovery.

Next time you sit down to tackle a task, try placing creative limitations on the activity. For instance, challenge yourself to solve a problem using only specific materials or within a set time frame. These constraints can spark innovative solutions and new perspectives. Alternatively, explore an existing idea through a different lens. If you’re working on a project, consider how it might be approached from another discipline's perspective or reimagine it for a different audience.

By embracing these practices, you will not only enrich your learning experience but also develop a unique and versatile skill.

Balance and better learning

In a world where generative AI and other technological advancements are rapidly transforming how we learn, work, and interact, it's essential to remember that core competencies like goal-setting, attention, and creativity remain fundamental to meaningful learning.

While AI can significantly augment these skills, the true potential of technology is unlocked when we actively engage in the learning process and bring our uniquely human attributes to the table. Setting clear goals provides direction and motivation, developing a stronger attention span enhances our ability to focus and synthesize information, and fostering creativity enables us to think critically and solve problems innovatively.

By nurturing these competencies, we not only enhance our learning experiences but also ensure that we remain active, thoughtful participants in a constantly evolving technological landscape. Embracing this balanced approach can enable us to harness the full power of AI while preserving and enhancing the human elements that drive genuine understanding and growth.