If AI Can Do It All, What Are We Even Teaching?
Q: Remember when “research” meant flipping through encyclopedias?
Yeah… same. I’m not trying to date myself, but I grew up in a house with a bookshelf full of encyclopedias — the glossy kind with the gold lettering. If I had a school project, I started there. And if I couldn’t find what I needed? Off to the library I went, with a handwritten list and a vague understanding of the Dewey Decimal System.
Then came the internet. And suddenly, everything was a Google search away. Research became faster, easier, and (let’s be honest) more copy/paste-y.
And now?
We don’t even need to search. AI just gives us the answers.
Q: Is learning still necessary when AI can do it for you?
Let’s be real:
Students — from middle schoolers to college grads — are openly using ChatGPT to do their work. Entire essays, problem sets, book reports… auto-generated in seconds. And they’re not wrong to question the system.
My own 13-year-old recently asked, “Why do I need to learn algebra if I can just put the problem into ChatGPT?”
I didn’t have a great answer. Because he’s not wrong.
But here’s where it gets deeper…
Q: What happens when we stop learning how to solve and only learn how to ask?
The role of education is shifting fast. If AI can generate the answer to almost anything — in perfect grammar, with citations — what’s the point of memorizing formulas, historical dates, or definitions?
So, in the future:
Will doctors need to memorize complex procedures… or just know how to prompt AI for step-by-step guidance?
Will mechanics need deep technical knowledge… or just the ability to snap a photo, feed it to an AI model, and follow instructions?
Will employees be hired for what they know… or how well they navigate, question, and apply what AI delivers?
Maybe the real skill of the future isn’t knowledge — it’s direction-following (which to be honest, feels too simple), problem-spotting, and judgment.
But let’s not ignore the tradeoff.
Q: What skills are we losing in this AI era?
We’re gaining speed, exposure, and efficiency. Sure.
But we’re also at risk of losing:
Critical thinking (Why reason through it when AI can tell you the answer?)
Perseverance (Why struggle when you can shortcut?)
Deep understanding (Why wrestle with the why when you already have the what?)
And that’s not just an education problem. It’s a hiring problem.
Q: What does this mean for the future workforce?
If college grads are entering the workforce saying, “I didn’t learn anything — just how to use ChatGPT,” then we have to rethink what we expect from them.
They’re not less capable. They’re just trained differently.
Their “education” was shaped in a world where information is frictionless — and that’s not going away.
So as employers, do we test their recall? Or their judgment?
Do we ask for resumes stacked with degrees? If degrees are only a measure of how well you can use ChatGPT, is this still a hiring prerequisite we are interested in? Or for proof they can collaborate with AI to get real work done?
Final Thought: If everything is answerable, then the questions become everything.
In a world where knowledge is automated, wisdom becomes the differentiator.
We’re not raising a generation that knows less. We’re raising a generation that’s learning differently. And we, as educators, leaders, and employers, need to change what we value — from the ability to memorize to the ability to think, ask, adapt, and apply.
Because AI is here.
The question is: what are we doing with the time it gives us back?
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