The Future of Education

With AI transforming education and industries, and reshaping the global workforce, will the need to focus on strengthening students’ superior performance competencies, defined as “one standard deviation above average performance” [1, p. 13] become urgent and prioritized in higher education? Concerns continue to be raised, questioning whether AI will replace certain competencies, such as critical thinking, eroding students’ human advantage or whether AI will improve students’ adaptability and adoptability to this new technology [2] to acquire new knowledge, skills and literacies. This narrative design, an instructor’s experience in an online graduate research course, explored whether Open AI’s ChatGPT-4 [3] strengthened the students’ superior performance competencies, or inadvertently created a shortcut to apathy. Textual data were collected, analyzed and interpreted during and after an AI integrated activity, entitled “Review of Literature.”  Data included the instructor’s reflection journal and observations, and the students’ activity documents and notes on student meetings led by the instructor. The instructor’s expertise in superior performance competencies, and experience in teaching with AI helped interpret the data. The interpretations were also verified by an expert colleague for member-checking. The findings indicated that the students gained a balanced understanding of AI’s capabilities and limitations. Additionally, incorporating AI into activities offered unprecedented support for productivity and decision-making, and promoted complex problem-solving, creativity, adaptability, and ethical judgment. Moreover, students improved their analytical abilities and critical thinking skills, which were considered pivotal for navigating an AI-enhanced academic and professional landscape [4]. Furthermore, student perceptions shifted to viewing AI as a “partner,” and/or a “study-buddy” rather than a source for cheating, which is referred to as “CheatGPT” in the student circles [5, p. 121]. The students improved many competencies considered as superior performance competencies which are indispensable for managing ambiguity, navigating diverse environments, and leading with emotional intelligence in the global workforce. To conclude, embracing AI’s potential while cultivating the human advantage is fundamental which explains why teaching with AI is critical. This balance not only serves as key to driving progress and promotes ethical, socially conscious leadership but also enables “future-proof citizens’ ability to work” [6, para.1].