Neuroscientist Vivienne Ming shares how parents can prepare children for an AI-driven future

Vivienne Ming is a neuroscientist and an entrepreneur based in the US. She argues that the education system is not doing a good job of preparing children for a world that will soon be dominated by artificial intelligence.

Ming writes in an article published by CNBC that most schools are still stuck on preparing children to memorize and pass exams a task that artificial intelligence is already better at than humans.Ming argues that a new form of technology requires a new form of education and upbringing for children. Instead of concentrating on the right answers and grades, parents and educators should focus on teaching children things that cannot be done by a machine.One of her recommendations is to help children embrace failure. She talks about the concept of having a “failure resume” where children are encouraged to recognize failure but also learn from the experience. According to Ming, children are receptive to the idea of being wrong at a young age; however, the education system often trains them to avoid failure, which is not conducive to further learning.According to her research, where she observed thousands of children, the role of failure in the development of strong thinking skills cannot be overstated.

Children who are encouraged to fail and learn from the experience often develop strong coping skills, which are important in an AI world.Ming also warned that with the increased use of advanced AI tools, there is the potential that the younger generations might be tempted to use the tools as a means of completing difficult tasks. Having worked with machine learning tools for decades, Ming stated that while the tools can be an effective helpmate, they must not be used as a replacement for the process of learning.Ultimately, the advice that Ming offers parents is that they must not focus on the process of achieving perfection but rather on the process of growth.