Oh dear, because we need to learn logic and creativity, not algorithms

In a world dominated by technology, the unwitting and passive use of technology can lead to a narrowing of perspective and a surrender to the decisions and influences of the ‘new normal’ – characterised by new models that present themselves as infallible and are thus capable of influencing their own creators.

To address all this, we have reimagined the training of the future from a completely different perspective: not training on AI or with AI, but ‘because of AI’. This type of training will be rolled out this autumn across three innovative programmes: the first has just begun at the Pontifical Antonianum University, focusing on the relationship between humans and AI; the second will take place between November and December at LUISS University, covering the more managerial aspects; and the third, in December, will coincide with the sixth edition of our online webinars on AI in the public sector, which have now become a point of reference for many civil servants.

Three complementary cycles, designed to strengthen critical thinking so that new tools can be used to their full potential, whilst interacting with them effectively without being passively influenced by them. In our approach, logic becomes a universal language, drawing on decision-support tools and methodologies, data-driven approaches and links between the evolution of systems thinking and AI.

The aim of all this is to learn how to interact with the algorithmic world in a new way. It will not be knowledge of a programming language that is needed, but the ability to formulate requests in a structured, logical and creative manner. We are entering a world that will soon shift from rewarding the usual answers to valuing the best questions, a world that will shift from the need to make decisions when resources are scarce to the importance of making them by sifting through the surplus of available information, and where the prevalence of opinions risks becoming the prevailing opinion. But it is also a scenario rich in possibilities, with great promise for discoveries in the fields of science, medicine and genetics.

The era of rote learning is drawing to a close. Data is, and will become, increasingly accessible. Educational programmes themselves will require a thorough overhaul, as will the role of the teacher. It will be pointless to engage in a witch-hunt over who has or has not used AI to carry out research; what matters is whether interaction with AI has been valuable or not. Professions are already evolving, and expectations regarding individual productivity will also undergo profound changes.

Whilst, with the development of information technology, an administrative staff member with some programming knowledge used to become, at best, the point of contact for information systems, in future an administrative staff member with expertise in AI will be an ‘augmented’ controller. And this is bound to have organisational implications.

Against this backdrop, Formez wishes, once again, to demonstrate its ability to interpret the times, by offering the public sector the

The next step, namely working to bring out the fundamental qualities of human beings. This is a journey open to all, driven by the desire to overcome the absurd and ahistorical claim that good ideas and decisions are the exclusive preserve of certain organisational roles, but based on developing a widespread awareness of one’s place in the new normal. Our aim is to provide everyone with the tools, methods and critical knowledge which, in a technocratic world, are nothing other than the new face of democracy.

(*) Chair of Formez