Jungin Cha: "Outsourcing of Thinking Due to AI Emergence... Future Education Must Respond"

National Education Commission, Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, and Korea Educational Development Institute

Hold Joint Forum on "The Direction of Our Education in the AI Era" on June 18

"Our education system must be prepared to provide answers on how to address the various challenges that artificial intelligence (AI) may bring."

Jungin Cha, Chair of the National Education Commission, made these remarks at the discussion forum titled "The Direction of Our Education in the AI Era," held at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on June 18. She pointed out that as humans come to rely on AI for uniquely human thought processes, phenomena such as the "outsourcing of thinking" and "diminished cognitive abilities" are emerging.

The National Education Commission and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education held a discussion forum titled "The Direction of Our Education in the AI Era" on the 18th at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. National Education Commission

The National Education Commission, together with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and the Korea Educational Development Institute, organized the forum with the aim of exploring the future direction of education in response to societal changes brought about by AI technology advancement.

Approximately 150 participants attended the forum, including members of the Seoul Student Participation Committee, the Student Participation Group, the Teacher Policy Accompaniment Group, the Parent Accompaniment Group, the Citizen Participation Group, members of the National Participation Committee, and officials from the National Education Commission and the National Education Development Research Center. They discussed the changes brought by the AI era.

Gwangho Lee, Standing Commissioner of the National Education Commission and Chair of the National Participation Committee, delivered the keynote presentation, diagnosing changes in the educational environment in the AI era and outlining directions that education should pursue in the future.

Commissioner Lee compared the rise of the S&P 500 Index in the United States after the emergence of ChatGPT with the simultaneous decline in the job curve, stating, "The common economic notion that a stronger economy leads to higher stock prices and thus more jobs is collapsing." He noted that the same situation is unfolding in Korea.

He explained, "While the number of skilled jobs for those in their 30s and older has increased, jobs for people aged 29 and under have rapidly decreased," adding, "AI is rapidly replacing jobs for young people who have just graduated from school and are entering society." He further emphasized, "The traditional formula of securing a job based on the knowledge and skills learned at school is starting to break down," and asked, "What processes should children now go through to grow into confident professionals and adults?"

Lee also said that school curricula, teaching methods, and assessment may change in the AI era. He stated, "AI is much more capable of understanding subject knowledge and quickly finding predefined answers," and called for collective wisdom on "how school teaching methods and assessments should change in the era of the AI revolution, and how university admissions should be reformed."

Finally, Lee noted that the social structure linking learning and employment could be reorganized in the future. He said, "SK hynix has announced it will abolish academic background requirements in all hiring. This means they will select talented individuals based on actual job competency, not college degrees." He added, "If such cases increase in the future, students will need a system to record and manage their diverse lifelong learning experiences and various certifications themselves."

In the subsequent small group discussions, all participants engaged in group-based conversations about the direction of education in the AI era.

Jaingin Cha, Chairperson of the National Education Committee, is delivering the opening remarks at the discussion on "The Direction of Our Education in the AI Era." National Education Committee

The National Education Commission plans to continue the online discussions with the National Participation Committee on the same topic for two days, June 19 and 20.

The results of the discussions will be reported to the main committee of the National Education Commission and used as key reference material in the National Education Development Plan.

Chair Cha stated, "Because AI is an issue that affects all of us, it is especially important for citizens to engage in direct discussion and for us to listen to their opinions." She continued, "The National Education Commission will continue to listen to voices in the field and engage in thorough deliberation with the public to establish educational directions suitable for the transition to the AI era."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.