Thomas

My name is John Latchman, and the year is 2099. I am sitting on my couch with my dog Thanos, watching the news on Cp24. It’s a Thursday morning in December, just 20 more days until Christmas. I woke up feeling a little nostalgic today, and it was not until I saw the news where there is a new AI teaching hologram being introduced, to accommodate students. Man oh man, where was this 80 years ago when I was in highschool? When I was in highschool, times were different. Back when the most Ai did was summarize a page or give me a brief description, I really thought that was as good as it was going to get… but I was so wrong. Back then, if I had a teacher I didn’t like, I was set up to struggle for the duration of the course. I could try and switch out, but then I would mess up my timetable trying to fix one problem, but usually that would end up creating another five problems for me. Nowadays, the kids in highschool have it better than I could have ever dreamed of. AI holograms, AI assistants, and AI marking schemes. Although the world is much more technologically advanced than when I was their age, I still feel like I would choose my generation over theirs. Back in the day, I used to go hangout and eat lunch with my teachers, I used to be pals with them. Nowadays, so many students have Ai as their primary teacher, that the teacher-student relationships just do not exist, or simply have been reduced to the point of no return. I remember when I was in grade 11, and I used to sit and eat with my friends, then I would walk the halls and go see some of my favourite teachers. My grandson Jeremy tells me that he eats lunch with his friends, but saying hello to an AI hologram is not on his list of things to do. Granted, there are human teachers in each school, but it's harder to create those relationships. The weather, because of the technological innovations to adapt energy and climate in New Toronto, offers a new dimension of teaching and learning environments for the new generation. I wish that’s how it was for us back in the day. We were locked inside a class for an hour, half the time without air conditioning or on cold days, no heating because of the poor budget cuts and allocations of funds in the province of Ontario, some days it was impossible to learn! Nowadays, improvements to the curriculum and new courses are being added (such as ecology, literature,etc.) so that these classes can be held outside all-year round! I remember back in November, I used to be showing up to class in jogging pants and sweaters with gloves. Now, I see my grandson come home in shorts and t-shirts.. Oh how the time has changed. I guess I’d like to say, I miss the old generation of learning, the one before AI and all these technological advancements. I feel education has lost the personal touch that made it so special back when I was in school. Seeing the joy a teacher gets from seeing their students finally understand a concept, now AI has mostly taken over, so that joy and connection are slowly disappearing. I know some love it, but I personally hate it. I wish we could go back in time. My grandson tells me that all his assignments are marked by an AI teacher, and in-person classes have become near obsolete, social interaction is at an all time low. I know when I was younger, I looked forward to going to school, to being in class with my friends, and just the fact I had to get up and pick out my outfit to impress the ladies, and walk around school. Now, technology has advanced to the point where kids rather stay at home and do their classes, or in the Vivarium Ai space. I always felt sad when I missed a day of school and couldn’t see my friends, I couldn’t imagine how anxiety and depression must be rampant in this new generation as online classes and technological advancements have led to isolation from social interactions. Well, I know for a fact, we had it better back then! I guess I’ll go take my dog for a walk and enjoy the weather, maybe I should do my Christmas shopping. My grandson wants the PS25.. I remember back when I had the Ps5… oh how old I have gotten.