Learning and Focus in the Age of AI

If there were any doubt about the focus on artificial intelligence in our media, this statistic may dispel it: 23% of all television advertisements during the Super Bowl featured AI. The ubiquity of these products - with all of their promise and pitfalls – feeds our never-ending conversation on how to maintain a robust, authentic learning community in a time of accelerating technological change and application.

Browning continues to reckon with what it means to be a school that’s technologically adept and responsible in an era of online connectivity and artificial intelligence. Part of this project is “Reclaiming Focus,” the internal study launched by Director of Innovation & Technology Aaron Grill earlier this year. This work, built on focus group and survey data gleaned from students, parents, and faculty, attempts to understand how screen time is affecting teaching, learning, and wellbeing within our community.  

The preliminary findings from the study have captured parental hopes for clear guidance around device use and at-home routines, the boys’ preference for academic work which offers authentic connection and meaning (irrespective of medium), and the teaching successes faculty have found in utilizing non-screen materials in class. We have also learned more about the consequences—almost unanimously healthy ones—that have emerged from Browning’s decisions to place intentional limits on screen use for our youngest learners, to shift away from a 1:1 device approach in the Middle School, and to pioneer the utilization of reMarkable tablets with our Grade 9 boys.  

There is more analysis to be done, but Reclaiming Focus has been a decidedly useful entry into the ongoing dialogue about what technologies can encourage deep learning, and how Browning can continue to prioritize human connection and focus while applying those technologies to its educational program. 

It is in this same spirit of vigilant inquiry that Browning and its Interschool partners are sponsoring a panel discussion, Parenting in the Age of AI, hosted by our friends at Trinity School on Tuesday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m. The evening will consider, among other things, the effect of AI on human connection, how to increase digital safety and wellbeing, and understanding the threats and consequences of deepfake abuse. One of the panelists, Evan Harris, has previously advised Browning’s administrative team on mitigating AI risks in school communities, and all the presenters will bring an expertise that promises to be both illuminating and reaffirming.

At a moment when AI has grabbed so much of the market and civic mindshare, we may feel ourselves pushed toward a view of all things electronic as potential panaceas. Conversely, we could retreat into a neo-luddism that regards all technology as inherently threatening and anti-human. Or we may discard this false dichotomy altogether in favor of a path that protects patient review and discernment, encourages community conversation and shared understanding, and insists that “success” can only be understood by making reference to Browning’s mission statement and core values, the deeply human principles that serve as a foundation of purposeful education and, we believe, a flourishing life. Both Reclaiming Focus and Parenting in the Age of AI reside along this path, and I believe that they will reward the attention that we give them.