AI In Overdrive & How The Children's Board Is Building Future Proof Skills For Kids - And Companies
The Parent 5: The Must Read/Listen/Watch: On Careers, Job Readiness, Mental Wellness, and Financial Literacy
Issue 23:
04.01.2023
“ — for my kids, in my kids’ not just life, but growing up, period, we’re on the cusp of a world that may be profoundly different than the world I was prepared to raise them for. And something about that has been the crucial line I stepped over, where I went from being like, this is interesting, and I like to read about it, to, holy shit."
-Ezra Klein on parenting in our age of AI
GPT-4 can now pass the bar exam in the 90th percentile and do work equivalent to the tasks performed by first- to third-year legal associates. In other careers, GPT-4 also performed better than 77 percent of test takers on the advanced sommelier theory test.
These are stunning results and represent incredible progress in its ability. And they represent the rapid pace at which these systems evolve and improve. On the LSAT, GPT-3.5 only scored in the 40th percentile on the LSAT and the 46 percentile on the sommelier test.
The incredible rate at which it’s evolving led Elon Musk to join a group of well-known AI researchers in an open letter calling for a global pause on developing large-scale AI systems, citing fears over the “profound risks to society and humanity.”
These are terrifying words for parents -
I think what’s needed next is a larger and more inclusive conversation on what parents, educators, and communities can and should do to help get kids ready to handle this new world - one that they can’t themselves imagine and to create a place to be a part of the ongoing conversations on how to manage these overwhelming system changes and their ripple out disruptive impact.
I’d love to partner with platforms looking at these issues and share what parents should know and understand from what they see. Ideas or suggestions on who to engage would be appreciated: takethelongrange@gmail.com
And thank you for being a part of the Longrange community and sharing the mission to have a shared conversation on parenting in an age of crazy disruption.
With intention,
Reva
“The Children's Board Creates A Future-Proof Win-Win For Kids and Companies.”
The acceleration of the pace of change and the increasing complexity of the world means that the most future-proof career and work skills will be the ability to collaborate to find solutions and create outcomes productively.
Tomorrow’s adults will need to think creatively about the pathways to innovative solutions and to communicate and persuade people about these options. Group projects are one of our kids' most career-useful undertakings at school - and they are also generally the most unpopular because working together on solving problems is hard and takes training.
The Children's Board is a recently launched global consulting firm with offices in London and San Francisco looking to help kids develop these critical skills early. They offer teens real-world consulting projects and opportunities for empowered leadership via TCB children’s boards (integrated within enterprise leadership structures), with the added incentive of getting paid for their expertise.
"We teach them how to collaborate, problem-solve, think critically, and always be comfortable asking & answering the why. We help kids channel their unbridled creativity. We harness their intrinsic desire to help shape their world by teaching them a framework on how to do that. We focus on helping them develop their voice and the communication skills needed to be heard, and help them engineer meaningful impact." Gauri Khokha, Managing Partner.
We all recognize that today’s schools are increasingly challenged in provisioning many real-life future-proof skills needed to stay competitive in a constantly changing world. The Children’s Board can be an invaluable tool for parents looking at ways to give their children some of this exposure. The "children-led and expert-backed" offer of the platform also aligns well with large brands and organizations looking to overcome their blind spots and garner direct input from this crucial young demographic.
The Children’s Board offers rolling admissions for new projects and TCB board opportunities. All consultant training programs are virtual and can be completed from anywhere. They are looking for students (ages 13-18) from diverse backgrounds because they feel heterogeneous points of view integrate into a more robust set of recommendations for the end clients. There is a fee to participate in their training programs.
For more on working with the team or applying for the program, see The Children's Board.
The Parent 5:
The Must Read/Listen/Watch:
“A.I. Is About to Get Much Weirder. Here’s What To Watch For."
A look at the increasing pace of A.I. Development, how it’s changing the world, and what to do about it. The Ezra Klein Show March 16, 2023Here's why education systems need to start taking a 'skills-first' approach.”
”The future of education lies in empowering young learners to embrace and develop their uniquely human qualities – those unlikely to ever be replaced by technology.” The World Economic Forum, March 30, 2023In Conversation With Catherine McKenna: "Climate Anxiety Is Debilitating Our Kids. Here's What Parents Can Do."
Catherine McKenna is currently Chair of the UN Secretary-General's High-level Expert Group on Net-Zero Commitments. Sh’s leading experts across sectors to develop more transparent and robust standards and criteria for assessing non-state actor commitments to reaching net zero. She's a parent of three and Canada's former and first Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
She shared how parents can better help their kids navigate climate anxiety productively.Parents’ lack of optimism about the future negatively impacts kids.
78% of Americans aren’t confident that life for their kid’s generation will be better than it has been for them. And this attitude is contagious. Research shows optimistic outlook can help kids thrive, while pervasive negativity can cause them to lose interest and hope.Americans without friends have increased by 250% in recent years. Reeves emphasizes acknowledging and nurturing friendships as they don’t form spontaneously.
We live in a world of accelerated disruption. The LongRange helps parents understand how to prepare kids to navigate better the future of work, learning, and life. Stay informed and inspired.