Earlier this month we had the opportunity to attend the Great Homeschool Convention that takes place in our neck of the woods each summer. We’ve attended the convention for a handful of years now, and the time spent among hundreds of other homeschooling families always leaves me feeling encouraged in our own homeschooling journey.
This year’s Convention didn’t *quite* offer the refreshing, vacation-like experience we have had at past conferences since Nico was attending sessions with us. (If you’ve ever attempted to sit through back-to-back, hour-long lectures with a toddler, you’ll understand why this endeavor was counterproductive stressful overwhelming miserable character-building for Luke and me.) But thanks to tag-teaming and a couple of well-timed naps, Luke and I each managed to come away from a few sessions with some valuable takeaways that we have discussed and pondered and implemented in the weeks since.
My favorite session of the conference was a talk by Andrew Pudewa, the founder and director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing. Mr. Pudewa is hilarious and incredibly wise, and I always enjoy learning from him at these conferences. This particular talk was titled AI or RI, and in it Pudewa reflected on the ways that our growing reliance on Artificial Intelligence is having deleterious effects on our REAL Intelligence.
Pudewa began his talk with a quote from a social media video in which an actual teacher shared his “new pedagogical idea” that we should stop teaching kids to add, since AI handles arithmetic and grammar more efficiently. According to this teacher-turned-Influencer, “the new essential skill is interpreting the data AI provides. It is critical synthesis of information. We must prioritize prompt engineering, the art of speaking to the machine as the new literacy. Teach them to be the conductor who directs the output.” In other words, this teacher believes that basic learning and academic skills are outdated and should instead be outsourced to the machines.
Pudewa countered (and I’m with him on this) that learning basic skills like simple math and grammar and vocabulary is more than an academic exercise; this fundamental learning “actually provides the tools for thinking and comprehending.” Children cannot be taught to “speak to the machines” without first learning how to speak and to think, skills that are core to what it means to be human. Teaching children to outsource their productivity and thinking isn’t just minimizing their workload, it’s depriving them of their humanity. Pudewa equated this over-reliance on machines to malnutrition:
“Just as our bodies require a healthy metabolism to transform the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats into strong muscles and bones, healthy blood, and organs, we need the basic skills of reading, writing, and calculating to be able to process the ideas and information in the world around us into helpful thinking and a healthy intellectual life.”
I wholeheartedly agree with every word. That mentality is a huge part of why we rely on mostly physical books and classical methods in our homeschool. There will be a time and place for my kids to learn how to appropriately interact with technology. (In fact, Luke is already teaching Charleston how to create artistic projects using AI.) But I want my kids to develop their own thinking and creative skills before they begin letting AI think and create on their behalf.
It’s easy for me to see how my kids’ young, unformed minds are susceptible to the malnourishing effects of AI, and it has not been difficult to keep my (mostly) screen-free kids away from its harms, at least for now. I wish I could say the same for myself. I’ve never been an early adopter of new technology, and my resistance to AI in its various forms has been especially strong. I do not directly interact with a Chatbot, I refuse to talk to Siri/Alexa, and I actually click each suggested link in the Google search results instead of reading the AI-generated summaries. That said, I am swimming in a sea of AI that is impossible to avoid if I am going to spend time with technology of any kind. Without my permission and often without my knowledge, machine learning algorithms are shaping my shopping experiences, my entertainment choices, my news consumption, and my daily interactions—even the ones that seem “offline.” So many of my routines, habits, and decisions are shaped by these unseen forces that it can be hard to know where my agency ends and AI step in.
With Artificial Intelligence an increasingly and unavoidably massive player in modern life, it is easy to lose sight of our own humanity. In fact, we can begin to question what it even means to be human. That’s something I have personally been asking a lot lately, and it’s a question I was glad to hear Andrew Pudewa address. In his talk, Pudewa identified four particular needs of humanity: 1) the need to know and to connect with knowledge from the past; 2) the need to harmonize and conform to beauty as actual participants in its creation, not just as passive consumers; 3) the need to hold responsibility and authority; and 4) the need to receive glory and to ultimately hear the words, “well done, my good and faithful servant.”
Pudewa discussed these core human needs in the context of incorporating each of them into education, arguing that all four are critical components of effective, humanizing instruction. I think, though, that his ideas extend beyond the walls of the classroom (or the homeschool setting). They are not the only keys to preserving our humanity, but they are a great place to start. In the midst of the AI slop, I can hang on to the intrinsically, God-given, HUMAN parts of myself by intentionally setting out to meet these core needs.
To bring the theoretical to the practical, I started making a list of specific ways I can begin meeting these four identified needs. Many of these are practices I have already embraced; others will be new. These are actions I can take on my own, but doing them alongside my children will have the multiplying benefits of creating accountability for myself AND helping them establish healthy, humanity-embracing habits of their own.
The Need to Know and to Connect with Knowledge from the Past
– Study history through the reading of historical documents, nonfiction works, and historical novels.
– Seek out time-tested wisdom and advice from mentors and other more seasoned men and women.
– Visit historical sites and landmarks; learn about the history of the places around me, as well as places I visit or hope to visit one day.
– Learn about my personal family history through discussions with my parents and other family members; introduce my children to their family legacy (through my family and Luke’s).
– Record my individual journey—through journaling, photo documentation, etc.—as I establish my own place in history.
– Engage in whole-family discussions about the habits, happenings, stories, and culture of our household to help my children solidify their childhood memories and hold onto their individual histories.
– Explore the Bible through a historical lens, viewing it as a recounting of my own spiritual legacy.
The Need to Harmonize and Conform to Beauty as A Participant in Its Creation
– Practice making art (painting, drawing, crafting, sculpting, pottery-making, floral design, calligraphy, photography, etc.)—even if it isn’t very good!
– Spend time in nature, savoring the beauty around me and viewing the world as God’s masterpiece as I seek to understand my unique place in His creation.
– Pursue creative writing opportunities such as poetry and short fiction.
– Sing, play the piano, or learn to play a new instrument.
– Dance, at home or in a dance class.
– Add creativity to my homemaking through interior decorating, meal creation and presentation, and party hosting.
– Engage in long, thoughtful conversations in face-to-face settings, treating these interactions as creative endeavors.
– Design my own games, school lessons, traditions, and activities for our family (rather than relying on outside resources for ideas).
The Need to Hold Responsibility and Authority
– Become intentional about doing things on my own, even when they COULD be made easier with technology (such as shopping in person, hand-washing my own car, cooking food from scratch, looking up words in a dictionary, etc.).
– Hand-write letters, journals, and notes instead of always typing them.
– Ask Luke to teach me to do some of the things he usually takes care of for our family (such as bill paying, car maintenance, and yard work).
– Practice gratitude as I engage in mundane household tasks, thanking God for a body and mind that are capable of tending to the people and things He has placed in my care.
– Avoid a victimhood mentality and acknowledge my own culpability when things do not go my way or when I harm people I love; make amends accordingly.
– Practice sitting with a questions and pondering my own ideas before immediately Googling the answers.
– Seek out opportunities to help others, especially in areas where it would be easier to feel resentful or complain about a job that isn’t being done to my standards. (This could be opportunities as close as my own home and as far-reaching as engaging in community projects or even politics.)
– Recognize where my own responsibility and authority ends and where God’s begins (instead of trying to hold onto control through artificial means).
The Need to Hear the Words, “Well Done, my Good and Faithful Servant.”
– Spend time each day in prayer and in studying God’s Word, not for the sake of checking off boxes but simply to bring glory to God and open myself to the work He wants to do in and through me.
– Remain receptive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and conviction to flee from sin and to do good.
– Seek out opportunities to love on and serve those around me.
– Boldly share my love for Jesus with others, through actions and words.
– Check my intentions, letting go of the need to please others and embracing a genuine desire to honor God.
Obviously this list is not the only path towards rejecting artificiality and embracing God-given humanity. But I believe this list is a good start on this humanity-salvaging quest that will continue to be an uphill climb but whose summit will be well worth the effort.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for this life that you have given me. Please shield me from the temptation to find ease and safety in artificial intelligence or any other source that it outside of You. Help me as I seek to embrace my own humanity, seeing it as a gift to be cherished and not a defect in need of unnatural enhancement. As our society approaches a new and unknown era, give me wisdom in knowing when to embrace innovations and when to forgo the new and noteworthy that is better left alone. These modern technologies and developments are not a surprise to you, nor do they threaten your deity or your sovereignty over your creation. Give me peace and assurance as I rest in your loving provision and trust that your eternal plans for humanity are still going off without a hitch.
