Pakistan’s missing tryst with AI

If Malala were to redefine her famous quote of “one child, one teacher, one pen, and one book can change the world,” in 2023, she would perhaps state, “one child, one tablet, one wifi network, and one ChatGPT can change the world.”

While the world is forced to step into an era of a quickly evolving artificial intelligence, people, nations and governments are left with only two choices. Either they sit back and ignore it or they wake up to it and work with it, if not behind it. While Pakistan seems to be going for the easier option of putting its head in the sand, it is pertinent now to speak loudly and repeatedly, as a global citizen, to the government of Pakistan, media, civil society, the nation at large, and educational institutions in particular to stand up and be counted.

From the look of it, Microsoft and Google are now fighting over who has the edge over the other as far as AI is concerned. Already universities, colleges and now even schools are adding content/curriculum to teach things like machine learning, coding, augmented reality, virtual reality, etc. The game has moved on from studying basic coding tools to high-end mechanical learning and more. While millions may or will become jobless, millions of new employment opportunities will also be created globally.

Google is already threatening Ivy leagues and others of shutdowns as they are coercing students not to waste their money, time and energy, trying to get what they called an ‘outdated education’ and instead come to them for specific skills to better cater to the needs of the rapidly changing and moving world of technology.

In this new world order and technological revolution, innovation seems to be the driving force for AI. On the one hand, we hear the exciting news of Microsoft’s ‘Sydney’ AI wanting to merge with humans – the chatbot expressed its desire to be like human and also said that it was in love with the person it was chatting with. And on the other, we hear the scary news of artificial super intelligence (ASI) crawling its way up and around us soon that may even go onto threaten mankind in itself.

In light of these developments, it is now not a choice but a necessity that we at least start talking about how we in Pakistan are to deal with this new era dawning upon us. How do we even begin to think what to do about it, how to go about it, where to start, etc. When will our politics take a back seat and issues like AI stand right in front us for attention, debate and action? While the sleeping government, the politics-obsessed media and the ignorant nation do not seem to prioritize AI/ technology, the private school system has the mantle and resource base to dwell into it deeply and lay the path for others to follow.

It is time they did away with the redundant topics taught in the subject called ‘ICT’ or ‘computing’ where young students even laugh when told what a CPU, monitor or a mouse is. Generation Z, which is a native of technology, seems light years ahead of what is now being taught in their schools under the banner of these subjects.

It is important that schools work on developing resources and teachers to impart education on topics like Web3.0, machine learning, AI, etc, not as an after-school club, but as part of the taught-and-assessed curriculum during school hours. They need to create space and treat these knowledge hubs seriously as part of their weekly time tables and planners. Schools now need to create AI labs with modern facilities just like they develop their science and art laboratories. They need to seriously invest in the resources required to teach these 21st century skills so that those who can afford the private-sector education can at least be armed enough to deal with their counterparts learning the same elsewhere in the world.

As a second stage once all of the above is institutionalized, the public-sector and other school systems need to be trained and targeted by both the government and the private sector to help spread this far and wide.

We can all start with the basic knowledge of what ChatGPT is for instance and use media houses to plant a seed about this latest form of AI hitting the world. We can even demonstrate an interaction with ChatGPT on mainstream TV channels during primetime to show the beauty and science behind AI. This will not cost much at all and will lay the foundation of further explorations at least in the minds of the young and old in this country.

We need leading universities to start summer or winter programmes to allow underprivileged students to come and learn the new tools and learn concepts like digital art, coding, robotics, STEM, etc either free or at a minimal cost – instead of just summer camps teaching only public speaking, painting, writing etc.

We can start teaching coding like the scratch programme in the primary years and tools like python in the middle school online and free through collaborations with the local edtech companies. And the volumes alone will drive their financial recoveries through sponsorships and advertising.

Why can’t we have local celebrities on billboards, social media, and TV, talking about their learning journeys into AI? In short why can’t we bolster AI as a state- and private-sector-run campaign of sorts?

Out-of-school children – especially girls – and children from economically and socially marginalized backgrounds are a huge target market and untapped resource. Why can’t we create a hub of such learning activities for them and give them the opportunity to evolve, make money and become a strength of the economy even if the state failed to give them proper formal education/ degrees?

This article is meant to stir some debate and push some ideas into an area we have little clue about but an area that is fast emerging as the main stake of the world around us. It is time to think out of the box not as a choice but under compulsion for we have missed the bus, the ruck, the plane and the ship for many other developments around the world but cannot afford to do so now when it comes to AI.

Pakistan needs a robust, uncensored, shameless and wildly imagined AI policy and action. Pakistani children cannot be sidelined; they should be exposed to this violently changing world of AI. And I believe our state’s missing tryst with AI is now turning out to be costly and dangerously scary.

It is time to wake up to one WiFi connection, one tablet, one ChatGPT for all students to change Pakistan and the world.

The writer is an educationist and International baccalaureate (IB) consultant. He tweets @TBandey