Technologically – Intelligent: A Perspective on Artificial Intelligence.
I am a millennial parent trying to do my best and raise my child to become successful and happy. My kid is smart, tech savvy, sensitive and independent. I am proud of his achievements and feel that he has amazing potential to become successful in life. As a parent I feel that he is blessed to be a part of a century that is in a transition. The world is ready to take off with intervention of technology in every field and walk of life. I personally feel that we are on the brink of a breakthrough that shall change our lives in a matter of seconds. From touch screens, to thin air holograms, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, face/ voice recognition robots, to the ultimate dream of man to challenge the very genesis- the HUMANOID.
I live in a time that is exciting but also challenging to an extent worrying. I have seen the world that was before the tech revolution. The world that was simple, un-complicated, not over crowded, not loud and not in sensitive. As children we were free to play in the gardens, run behind the butterflies, soil our clothes. 50 % of our time was spent in outdoor engagements with our friends. We fought, loved, cared, grew jealous of each other, competed with one another and also shared our ice-creams and chocolates with the same friends. Watching birds, plucking jamuns and guavas was the high point of our childhood. We looked forward to listening to stories from our Nani Maa and that’s how we learnt values in our life. The human touch governed our growing years.
My kid today is experiencing a unique world which is natural to him but alien to me. As I believe we are in a transition – the transition is not for the kids but for us, we are taking time to come up to speed. As an educator, I still need to understand the role of technology and technology based intelligence. The challenge for the schools or education institutions is to get a right and clear perspective on the use and role of technology based intelligence or AIRTIFICIAL INTELLIENGENCE. Engaging a child on the smart board in the classroom is not making him or her tech savvy. But making a child understand how the touch panel work is making him/her more intelligent towards technology.
The meaning of the word Intelligence is: ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills and the meaning of the word technology is: application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.
Interestingly both concepts are application based and practical and aim at providing solutions to problems. As an educator and as a parent I need to understand that technology is going to redefine the landscape and there is no point in resisting the same. My kid already is part of this world that is processing information in Nano-seconds, networking with the world in a swipe.
The catch is to create the right balance. With right balance I do not mean controlling our kids, what I mean is to give them a perspective towards technology and intelligence. Bring in nature learning and fuse it with technology to solve day to day problems. Instead of sitting in a room and playing x box, one can play a game and use a smart tech device to measure the calorie burnt. The idea is to not only play but also understand how a tech device works on wellness and fitness. This for our kids is cool and for us is time well spent on an activity which is more holistic. We want our children to become critical thinkers and problem solvers. But we also want our children to become responsible citizens of the planet earth. Applied intelligence, along with problem identification and problem solving abilities shall make our children ready for a future that is technologically intelligent.
The idea is to bring back the HUMAN TOUCH i.e. sensitivity through our kids but the modes and means of the same might be more advanced or working at a macro level. Exploring application of technology in medical sciences to doing a community marathon for wellness and health are all part of integrating technological intelligence in the right way. As a millennial parent I am confident of adapting to this change and also as a responsible educator, I am responsible to spearhead the initiative of integrating human intelligence and technology to give my children a happy and successful future.
