January-February , 2021 | @ green

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Humans must be trained to excel at something which will remain out of AI reach for at least some time to come

Malaysia 5.0 initiative , the stumbling question is whether we will have sufficient human capital at every level to successfully carry this initiative into the future .

Malaysia 5.0 initiative is inspired by Society 5.0 , a concept proposed by the Japanese government and wholeheartedly embraced by its entire nation back in 2016 . Even before Japan , few other countries introduced similar national plans , including , for example , Estonia ( e-Estonia ), Germany ( Industrie 4.0 ), and Singapore ( Smart Nation ).

Importantly , simultaneously adopting these plans , the above countries initiated rigorous educational system reforms seeing education as the critical success factor .

Analysing educational system changes introduced by these countries a few critical and conspicuously common trends can be discerned . The first is focus on developing human strengths . The second is the very early inclusion of 4IR elements into the curriculum . The third is transcending the humanities / sciences divide .

Focus on human strengths

In the context of this discussion , it is somewhat erroneous that the early AI systems were built on the principle of memorisation , pattern matching , and knowledge recall , which was soon shown to be a weak approach .

The machine ’ s attempt to find a solution to a problem that was not previously encoded into its memory would lead to a combinatoric explosion . As such , the machines were taught how to independently create their own rules of data interpretation .

Why is it then that even when the machines are taught creativity , we still test students ’ ability to simply recall knowledge in our curriculum ? In the era of google-search and copy-paste culture , the highest levels of Bloom ’ s taxonomy should have disproportionally greater importance for the purpose of curriculum development . Humans must be trained to excel at something which will remain out of AI reach for at least some time to come .

The higher progression of knowledge is wisdom , which can make the best and most proper use of knowledge , sensing the universal laws and relationships stretching beyond the known models or seeing the unseen .

This unseen will remain inaccessible to AI , which is trained on the physically available data . Therefore , the focus of education from the very early age should be on ethics , complex communication , teamwork , creativity , ability to see non-obvious links between the concepts , ability to synthesise and produce knowledge , not just consume it .

This kind of training will eventually supply not knowledge - but wisdom -workers who would be in the ultimate demand of Society 5.0 .

Early inclusion of 4IR elements into curriculum

When we say that 4IR elements must be introduced in the school curriculum , we must also ensure that correct “ elements ” are presented starting from the primary level .

It is a self-deception to think that we are familiarising children with 4IR by merely introducing them to the use of technologies or allowing them to play , even though educational , computer games in class . Introduction to 4IR needs to be taken more seriously .

A user of technology approach might be sufficient for society 4.0 or information society . However , it is clearly an inferior approach to transit to a community comprising individuals who can skillfully navigate in 4IR reality — Malaysia 5.0 as envisioned .

Suppose we want to have equitably shared prosperity and avoid the concentration of powerful technologies in the hands of few . In that case , the nation will need to produce

BY Margarita Peredaryenko

The higher progression of knowledge is wisdom , which can make the best and most proper use of knowledge , sensing the universal laws and relationships stretching beyond the known models or seeing the unseen .”

at a scale not only active users but also active creators . We must start minting them immediately , at scale .

As Tiit Paananen of Skype , one of Estonia ’ s born unicorns , previously noted : “ Your capability not only to use but also to create IT components will give you a competitive edge ”. Notably , Estonia has been introducing programming and coding to children as young as seven years old for more than a decade by now . Not surprisingly , the country is one of the leaders in terms of the number of unicorn companies born .

The active creator approach must be prioritised over a mere user of technology approach starting from the primary school level . A great emphasis should be placed on teaching programing logic , building algorithms , functional programming , object- and service-oriented programming ( even at the elementary level ).

These are essential tools to learn , understand and eventually see the modular and complementary nature of the 4IR frontier technologies such as blockchain , AI , IoT and many more to come .

By imbuing this healthy modular thinking , we can produce individuals who can become visionaries of the tech future — the backbone of the country ’ s economic growth and prosperity , who can clearly see how revolutionary technologies can be applied specific socio-economic problems and elevate the human life . And this is the essence of Society 5.0 .

Strengthening programming logic and modular thinking would also enhance the desired human skills like imagination , synthesise the conceptual ideas and eventually create knowledge and sound judgment .

Transcending the humanities / sciences divide

To produce justly balanced individuals who can apply science and technology innovative solutions to the real-world socio-economic problems , there should be no room for segregation of the humanities and math and science subjects .

Even though the Malaysia education system has become stream-less since 2020 , the students can still freely decide which subjects , STEM / non-STEM to take . Therefore , this does not remove the barriers between subjects and disciplines effectively .

The approach is to have a standard , well-balanced set of subjects , STEM , and non-STEM , which all students must take up until the university level . Even at the university level , perhaps , at least for the first few years of education math , data science and tech should be made compulsory .

Some of Singapore universities , for example , go as far as making the computational thinking , statistics , and programming essential requirement regardless of major , humanities or science .

This approach will also help increase job mobility which is not actually a problem or some undesired effect of 4IR but somewhat the innate and , in fact , desired characteristic of 4IR reality .

Developing justly balanced individuals , all prepared and equipped for this extremely fluid and dynamic reality will reduce unemployment and underemployment problem .

All the above changes in the education system are crucial and have to be made immediately if we want to succeed in Malaysia 5.0 as other nations ’ experience indicates .

Let us rephrase it that time , and 4IR tide wait for no man . When it comes to education , any small change today or a delay to make such a change is truly felt and amplified , as an exponent of time , years down the road .

Given the speed of development brought about by science and technology innovations , every minute of procrastination may cost us years of falling behind . — @ green

Dr Margarita Peredaryenko is Chief Research Officer at EMIR Research , an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research .