What Can AI Teach Us About the Need for Lifelong Learning?
By Van Ton-Quinlivan
During a recent visit to a big, not-to-be-named tech company in Seattle that’s focusing on data-driven services that change humankind, I met the data scientist leading one of their major artificial intelligence (AI) efforts. But I happened to be there on the AI’s “designated learning day,” which meant the algorithm’s calendar was basically blocked for learning instead of other tasks.
Because of this, the project leader wasn’t able to show me a visual depiction of what he was explaining. Three days a week, the computer’s neural network sifts through volumes and volumes of data to better understand patterns, connections, and explosive percolations (which is when the frequency draws a topic from the fringe to the core).
Machine learning is common but taking a “designated learning day” was news to me, and my first thought was what good study habits it has!
My second thought was that there’s a lesson for us humans to learn.
Education and training must be thought of as a booster shot — not a one-time inoculation. Just as your iPhone operating system, Windows program and every app you use needs to be periodically updated, we humans need to get periodic booster shots to keep our skillsets fresh for the rapidly changing pace of work.
And, while our society is pretty serious about having kids go to school, it’s not yet the norm for doing so when you’re in your 30s, 40s or 50s. That needs to change.
As adults, we tend to label ourselves with words like parent, grandparent, employee, supervisor, business owner — but not “student.” Student can seem awkward after you’re in your late 20s. I remember feeling that way in my mid 30s when I began doing doctoral coursework after having a child.
On the first day of class, as I excitedly pulled out my paper notebook, all of the other much younger students were taking out their laptop notebooks. It had only been a decade since I had done my masters at Stanford but I felt a little behind the times. Imagine what it would feel like for someone who hadn’t been in a classroom for 20 or 30 years? If we think about skilling as a booster shot, those gaps would shorten.
When I worked as the head of workforce development for a big gas and electric utility company, I remember discussing the need for digital skills with the head of our fleet department. As cars evolved from combustion engines to electric/hybrid ones, their maintenance required much greater computer literacy.
The director explained that when he called the training “basics of computers,” none of his mechanics would attend even if they needed to know the content, because to do so would imply a digital literacy gap. But when the workshop was retitled “introduction to hybrid vehicles” with digital literacy content embedded, his 200+ mechanics showed up to learn the necessities of their craft. Whether coursework is viewed as remediation versus professional development can make continuous learning a norm more or less attractive for adults.
Some occupations already have a norm of continuous professional development. In medicine, approximately 90 percent of all practicing physicians in the U.S. are board-certified and doctors in practice more than a few years must also meet continuing education requirements. In high tech, everyone knows that staying up-to-date on technology is essential to survival even if not mandated.
Learning and reskilling needs a new norm. Our social infrastructure needs to keep up with the time. Let’s take a cue from the machines and become lifelong learners.
