What does the future of work and education look like when AI can accomplish in a few months what electricity took 80 years to achieve?

Chike Aguh, senior advisor at Harvard University's Project on Workforce, takes us through technological revolutions of the past and present, highlighting what makes generative AI fundamentally different – namely, its unprecedented speed of deployment and the fact that even its creators cannot fully predict its capabilities.

Drawing from his experience as a 2nd grade teacher in New York, Chike offers practical visions of how AI can transform education not by replacing teachers, but by creating more space for students to develop "timeless skills" like leadership, collaboration, and conflict resolution that cannot be learned from books alone. Such skills (unlike the technical "just-in-time skills" that AI is starting to effectively handle) are developed through practice, coaching, and real-world experience.

Chike also says that our AI future isn't predetermined. With demographic trends pointing toward a shrinking workforce, he argues we'll need "all the people and all the AI" working together. But that requires intentional decisions about how we deploy these technologies. Educators play a crucial role in this process – not necessarily as technical experts, but as guides helping students develop frameworks for using AI tools purposefully and ethically.

Want to understand how to prepare yourself or your students for an AI-transformed world? Listen as Chike offers specific, actionable guidance for educators and parents who are navigating this uncharted territory alongside their students.

Learn more about Chike and the Project on Workforce:

• pw.hks.harvard.edu/
• linkedin.com/company/project-on-workforce/

aiEDU: The AI Education Project

• aiEDU.org
• linkedin.com/company/aiedu/