Human Intelligence in an Increasingly Disruptive World

by Alusine Barrie

The world is ushering in the dawn of a fourth industrial revolution ‘characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.'[1] We are seeing ’emerging technology breakthroughs in a number of fields, including robotics, artificial intelligence, blockchain, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, The Internet of Things, 3D printing and autonomous vehicles.
How can we catch up with it leaving no country behind?

Past industrial revolutions have shown us that poor countries and our values have not always kept up with the growing opportunities and challenges the world is faced with. Many have highlighted the great potential as well as dangers of letting the machines loose. Continuing disruptive breakthroughs will herald an inevitable cultural and socioeconomic revolution, just as we have seen in the past. However, the poorest countries of the world are far from prepared to to adapt to the radical changes the world is going to face. While billions are connected and taking collective action to solve some of the planet’s greatest challenges, billions more are still offline, effectively cut off from the benefits of being connected to the rest of the world. That very connectivity has also bred new arenas for crime and the spread of new forms of violence. We have seen the complex ways in which these changes can mix with lingering problems of poverty, poor education, conflict, cultures, and ideologies resulting in tragedy and loss of human life. There are growing privacy concerns with how technology companies use our information. While incomes are rising across the world, the gap between rich and poor countries continues to widen. The fourth industrial revolution has as much potential to take the world to new heights and heal the gaps in our society as it can breed newer challenges and leave poorer countries drifting further and further away from the rest of the world if the world doesn’t make the the necessary shifts.

A shared future in which the fruits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution benefit the whole of mankind needs a reinvention of education and a renewed effort to support the poorest countries in the planet to meet the rest of the world.

Education, if it is going to be fit for the demands of the fourth revolution would require a revolution itself. It has not been able to adapt very well to the changing demands of our times, let alone the rapidly changing landscape of the future flooding in. Perhaps, the biggest dilemma is for poor countries whose educational systems have basically remained stagnant for centuries, and whose learning systems are characterised by rote, poor teacher training and remuneration, dismal school infrastructure, little to no access to learning materials, malpractices in the educational system etc. These challenges are exacerbated by a context of weak governance, inter-generational poverty, poor public health and infrastructure, subsistence agricultural economies, and in many cases a presence of unhelpful cultural practices and beliefs. Now imagine this situation and the inevitable future of intelligent robots, artificial intelligence, self driving cars, wearable technology and 3D printing. Should poor countries just forget about it all together? Or does education have the potential to help poor countries race faster towards the rest of the pack and perhaps make it easier to leapfrog and catch on with the rest of the world?

For a shared future, my view is that education would have to break national confines and develop citizens of the world, used to ‘different’ and thus can respect and value diversity. Education must prioritise global engagement in learning to help learners as early as much as possible to interact and share real life experiences with children of different cultural, social and economic backgrounds. In an increasingly connected world, the minuscule choices people make in one part of the world can affect the daily lives and choices available to people in another remote part of the world. When learners interact with and are exposed to people, cultures, and beliefs different from their own, they grow an appreciation for diversity, and are more likely to take into account how a word or an action will inevitably affect someone else in another part of the world. The hate we see in the world today is likely a failure in exposing learners enough to the diversity. Diversity has to be embedded in school curricula as well as extra-curricular activities.

For a balanced youth, education would have to prioritise what one could characterise as ‘human intelligence’. Schools would have to re-prioritise teaching young people about themselves; their bodies, their minds and the numerous factors that can affect their mental and physical balance and help them develop the human intelligence required to be fulfilled in an increasingly disruptive world. This is relevant in rich and poorer countries alike. In poorer countries especially, a belief in personal efficacy and the ability to change their situation has to be re-established in young people. The more young people know themselves and how their choices and experiences affect their lives and the lives of those around them, we shall see a much more balanced youth able to take on the fourth industrial revolution.

To create new value in the world, education should prioritise blurring the lines between the disciplines to develop well rounded citizens and focus on developing a love for life-long learning. This is one of the most important cornerstones of education becoming fit for the fourth industrial revolution. Actually, a focus on interdisciplinary learning and promoting a love for life-long learning will probably the strongest differential of educational systems best placed to exploit the benefits inherent in the fourth revolution. However, this is also one critical point where poor countries, certainly lacking the necessary institutional, infrastructural and human capital resources, would need help if they are to be able to make the necessary transformation.

In the end, the fourth industrial revolution is taking off and it is going to change almost everything. Its growth is at its infancy, and great opportunities abound for millions more to be lifted out of poverty, the eradication of diseases, the connecting us and bringing us together in new ways to solve the big challenges facing our world. To reap its fullest benefits and ensure it serves humanity and not the other way round, our education systems need to transform with it and no country should be left behind. The transformation of educational systems and connecting poor countries will the central for harnessing the fourth industrial revolution and ensure there are no missing links in our society. The future is on!