Don’t use old maps to discover new lands.

Gil Giardelli

In the age of information and unprecedented technological advancement, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education has emerged as a topic of increasing relevance and debate. But after all, what do we mean by technology? Is it limited only to machines, computers and the internet?

Technology refers to the set of knowledge, techniques, skills and processes used in the production of goods or services, as well as in solving practical problems. Basically, everything that is created, invented and built can be considered technology.

We were recently in São Paulo, at a meeting of educational leaders, who work from Early Childhood Education to Higher Education, and all the discussions in which we participated touched on the same point – the future has already arrived. Artificial intelligence and emotional health were the topics that stood out most at the meeting.

We were encouraged to think about the tools that are already part of our daily lives and others that already coexist in other parts of the world, to visualize and put into practice the skills needed for the future.

The school of the present cannot be the school of the past. Children today have much more resources to learn than a decade ago and research has shown that even with such easy access to information, children have lower IQs than their parents.

Michel Desmurget in his book “The Factory of Digital Cretins” opens a serious and necessary discussion by confirming that no human group in history has opened such a large fissure between its material conditions and its intellectual achievements.

The consumption of time in front of screens has grown exponentially over the last few years, even though we are aware that screens deprive children of a certain number of stimuli and experiences that are essential for their development.

It’s one thing to know how to passively watch content on social networks, open applications and use them on a daily basis. The recreational use of screens can be learned at any age and in any situation.

The plug and play form facilitates use and manipulation without effort or particular skills. There is no genius when a child can open a page or video on the internet. Or choose the films you want to watch on television.

The point to be highlighted is: at what point are children and adolescents learning to think, reflect, maintain concentration, make effort, master the language beyond its rudimentary bases, hierarchize information flows produced by the digital world and interact with other people .

The genius is to use the network to produce content, question what you are receiving, make inferences and connections.

Before we deny something that is already part of our lives – every time we turn on the television and choose some streaming, the choices have already been made by an artificial intelligence based on our search and choice patterns, we have to look at Artificial Intelligence and learn to use it as a technology – to serve us.

As educators, we do have to alert families to the dumbing use of screens recreationally, and rethink the curriculum and the way schools deal with and inspire knowledge.

Based on the latest data from the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), companies that already use Artificial Intelligence in Brazil are looking for professionals who know how to use computers, smartphones, who have the ability to create, to communicate, who understand what it is knowledge, machine learning and knowing how to interact with AI applications. The concentration of AI talent in Brazil predicted for 2021 was 0.0 or 0.2 – without typos. We are a country that has not yet reached the future.

Recently, the National Common Curricular Base inserts the teaching of computing using AI in the High School curriculum. The document provides guidance on the necessary skills to be worked on at school, based on this segment: understanding what sensors are, how to recognize them, identify them and how they work; understanding how machines use representations to reason; understand that AI works from a large volume of data, identifying use and restrictions; recognize that AI requires a lot of knowledge to generate a natural interaction with human beings; understand that AI has an impact on society distinguishing its ethical and responsible use. Since 2022, UNESCO has been talking about AI literacy, covering algorithmic literacy and data literacy. Thinking with and about AI.

What does this have to do with Infanzia’s curriculum and work?

Based on science – from recent studies and research -, we know that little ones need generosity and human gestures to grow up well. Children need words, affection, encouragement. They need to experiment, mobilize their body, run, jump, touch, play, manipulate rich shapes. Read images, manipulate books, identify diversity, ask good questions, learn to research. They need to observe the world around them and interact with other children.

We are a school without screens for younger children, where the spaces and our work sessions offer the possibility of exploring the world, creating, narrating, imagining, acting, investigating, reading and interacting with others in a healthy and powerful way.

We include the subject Science and Technology in our Elementary curriculum, to enrich research and ways of thinking and knowing the world, aiming for future skills.

The world and we are learning to live with AI. In an ethical and profitable way. We are navigating new and complex territory, but with awareness and education, we can work to shape a future where AI benefits everyone.