Our Garfield is dead. After 17.5 years with us. So, his body is no longer there. But his spirit is free again. Let's see in what form he might return to us. And we, my wife and I, are also free again. For the first time in our marriage, we are free to leave the house again without having to worry about the creatures that depend on us. Since the first week of September this year brought a beautiful late summer to our area, we spontaneously travelled to Sauerland. Despite the Corona years, despite climate change, it's still beautiful here, quiet and relaxing.
When you're old and getting worse, you tend to repeat the old phrases without thinking. For example: "God didn't succeed in creating old age". But if you are still functioning reasonably well, sitting in the garden on a sunny afternoon with a bottle of beer in your hand and can do what you want and like, then this phrase sounds more like an insult (to nature or creation) than a truth.
So what do you do on an afternoon like this? If, like me, you have already written several books and several scientific publications on the possible answers to the most important questions facing humanity, you look at the world's past and present problems from a greater distance and ask yourself: "What's the point of all this? Who cares about what you are doing today or tomorrow, or what you are planning to do? Part of my mind says: "Leave it alone! Enjoy the time and the beer. You can't change anything on your own. But then the second half of my mind gets upset and protests. Fifty years of successful development of a new, marvellously unified science must soon bring about something greater, spread throughout the world, initiate a change in thinking, introduce a completely new direction in the education of all children and young people in the world.
Why is the current way of imparting knowledge failing worldwide? Clearly not because of bad pupils. Rather, it's the poorly prepared teachers. But what causes this situation where teachers (on average worldwide) are ill-prepared for their profession, and in recent times are even simply psychologically and physically afraid of having to stand in front of their class? These fears are the result of their poor training at universities and teacher training colleges, where professors, who have been out of schools the longest of all people, are unable to practically comprehend the rapid technical development of interpersonal communication and thus "produce" poorly prepared teachers.
Breaking this vicious circle seemed impossible to me for a long time. But now it seems that a good solution to this problem has been found. The Hollywood actors' strike gave me this solution. The actors are afraid of being replaced by their avatars and losing their jobs as a result. I only partly share this fear because I believe that good actors have always inspired audiences with their individual identities and will continue to do so as avatars. You just have to align the contracts with the production of authentic avatars and accept AI in the cinema business.
The same (I am firmly convinced) must also be done in schools in the near future. Teachers must be provided with the appropriate software that enables every teacher to create their own avatar. I am thinking about Avatars 2.0, which do not replace the original human teachers, but enrich them (with generally useful knowledge), strengthen their physical powers (because they never get tired), and above all - can never act independently without control by their human originals. Such an AI-supported school has several advantages. Firstly, teachers no longer need to be afraid to do their job. Physically - they are not vulnerable. But more importantly, psychologically - they can be sure that they will no longer discover any gaps in their own knowledge; AI makes the entire knowledge of mankind available to every teacher. Secondly, students can meet in smaller or larger groups for lessons where it suits them best. Thirdly, the adult supervisors of such groups can concentrate on the social goals of education. The permanently dilapidated school buildings can be converted into sports and cultural centres (or the worst of them can be demolished altogether). And fourthly, the individual weaknesses (linguistic or motor skills) of some pupils can be individually supported by AI.
All children in the world, regardless of their parents' financial wealth, can be given the same opportunities in AI schools to start their adult lives well educated.
