Education in the AI era must return to enduring human values

Lee Kwang-hyung

The author is a former president of KAIST.

AI is advancing by the day, approaching and even surpassing human intellectual capabilities. By around 2045, when children now sitting in elementary and middle school classrooms enter society as adults, AI will likely demonstrate overwhelming performance across nearly every area of human cognition.

This rapid change has thrown education into deep confusion. Schools have yet to answer fundamental questions: What should children learn in a world where AI has access to virtually all knowledge? How should they live alongside machines smarter than humans? As technological development outpaces curricula, both traditional memorization-centered education and superficial coding instruction are losing their rationale.

At such a moment, rather than being dazzled by technology, we should return our attention to humanity. What is human nature? What does it mean to live together in society? What are happiness and success? When circumstances become disorienting, wisdom lies in returning to fundamentals. We must first identify what will not change, then build what must change upon that foundation. The task is not to reject technological change, but to anchor adaptation in qualities that remain human.

Five core educational values will remain essential in the AI era. They form the mental framework children will need to live successful and fulfilling lives.

First is creativity. Humans have always explored the world by imagining new possibilities, challenging established frameworks and asking questions out of curiosity. AI can learn enormous amounts of data and offer rational alternatives or solutions, but humans ultimately recognize problems that have never been formulated and ask, “Why?” AI answers questions posed by people, while technology develops in the direction those questions lead it. Creative questions combining knowledge in the human mind with AI assistance will help steer civilization. The quality of human questions may become more consequential than the quantity of information recalled.

Second are basic knowledge and memory. Some argue that because AI can retrieve virtually all information, people no longer need to accumulate or memorize knowledge. That is dangerous. Without foundational knowledge and structured concepts in our minds, we cannot formulate sophisticated prompts for AI or assess the accuracy and errors in its answers.

Critical thinking and sound judgment can emerge only from a foundation of accumulated knowledge. No matter how advanced AI becomes, final decisions remain a human responsibility. To make good decisions, the human brain itself must be properly trained. Memorization is an essential part of that process. Excessive rote learning should be avoided, but acquiring core knowledge and training memory remain indispensable.

Third is cooperation. Humans cannot accomplish everything alone. Understanding others’ emotions, reconciling different opinions and working toward common goals are central to social life. In the AI era, cooperation must expand beyond collaboration among people to collaboration between humans and AI. Rather than treating AI as an enemy or competitor to defeat, people must learn to make it a partner in addressing humanity’s difficult problems.

Fourth are perseverance and a willingness to take on challenges. Continuing to work without quickly tiring and trying again without fearing failure are central to human agency. In a world where AI can generate results with a single click, the value of enduring difficult processes, learning through direct experience and earning achievement will only increase. Persistence in solving problems will help children retain control over their lives rather than surrendering it to technology.

Fifth are emotional sensitivity and empathy. Understanding emotions, communicating sincerely, moving others and persuading them to cooperate are human capabilities that AI cannot truly replace. A happy life grounded in emotional stability cannot be achieved through reason alone, nor can data and logic alone move the human heart. Music, art, sports and other physical and artistic experiences will become more important as society grows increasingly technology-centered, nurturing emotional depth and aesthetic judgment.

Perhaps the most dangerous question in AI-era education is, “What can humans do better than AI?” Humans are likely to lose that competition. We should ask instead: “No matter how advanced AI becomes, what must remain human until the end?”

The answer includes creativity, knowledge, cooperation, perseverance, willingness to take on challenges and emotional sensitivity. These must be reinforced by sound AI ethics, critical thinking and adaptability. Together, they constitute the true core of education that should endure through the AI era.

Education in the AI age must therefore begin not only by teaching students how to use AI but also by teaching humanity again. Over the next century, technology will continue evolving, perhaps producing superintelligence far more powerful than the AI we know today. Yet the genes of the humans living alongside it will not change, nor will fundamental human nature.

Education should not be pulled in every direction by changing technologies. If enduring human values remain at its center, children will be able to find their way through even enormous upheaval. Only by looking toward what is constant in humanity amid profound uncertainty can we see clearly what education must prepare for over the century ahead.