A talk focused on the intersection between education and technology was held in the Ticmas auditorium at the Buenos Aires Book Fair. Joan Cwaik, who recently published his third book titled “Posttechnologies,” was the keynote speaker. In his work, subtitled “Skills for Reclaiming the Human,” Cwaik addressed the need for preserving our human identity in the digital ageemphasizing the value of personal competencies in the face of technological expansion, thus providing a space for reflection on this topic in the educational context.
The presentation of the talk was aligned with a period of active debate about the impact of technology on our daily lives and educational processes. After deliberating on the books he has previously published, the conversation evolved towards identifying key skills to face these challenges. In this context, the talk began by addressing the concept of what “post-technological” and how it emerged.
Cwaik pointed out that in the auditorium, they have explored how “exponential technologies are changing paradigms,” a reality that he has constantly faced throughout the last ten years of his professional career. The recurring question on this journey has been “how to adapt and coexist in a world dominated by exponential technological advancement,” a central dilemma in her second book. This dilemma is deeply intertwined with our abilities, underscoring the idea that, by 2024, “the most essential aspects of the human begin to remain”, a phenomenon that he assured, he has investigated intensely.
Thus, he arrived at the concept of “the posttechnology”, a state that suggests that we are transcending postmodernity, similar to how “Gutenberg’s printing press and the Second Industrial Revolution signaled the beginning of new eras.” This thinking proposes that, since technology has become fully integrated into our social fabric, perhaps “the answer lies in returning to what makes us fundamentally human.”
Later, Patricio Zunini, moderator of the conversation, pointed out that a particular term is mentioned in the book, “agnosyphy”. Although it may sound complex and may contain concepts that not everyone knows, it was urged to discuss it at the time, although the work offers a detailed explanation of it.
– Difficult words and some a little provocative too, and I do a lot and work a lot in diagnosing how society is today regarding the technical evolution and social changes that we are going through. and it is true that everyone We live in a state of constantly having to know everything.the abbreviation in English “fomo” fear of missing out, the fear of being left out.
And one of the skills that I was working on in post-technology is developing a love for not knowing; which in 2024 seems a bit controversial. In a presentation at a university, a girl told me, -admitting that I don’t know something detracts from my value in this competitive world- and perhaps it is not so, we are in a world where we have much more technology that we can adopt. , understand and assimilate; so I think we have toalso develop this love for not knowing because one cannot know everything.
Technology will continue to pose challenges to humanity, and meeting these challenges is one of the core skills I explore in the book, said Joan Cwaik.
At this point, it was recalled in the talk that last year, during an event that included the participation of experts in Artificial Intelligence, Mariano Yacovino, from Microsoft, asked ChatGPT an interesting question: How many bananas can you eat on an empty stomach? The answer listed several options, such as 3, 1, 7, 12, but Yacovino pointed out that, in reality, after consuming a single banana, you would no longer be fasting. This example illustrates how human reasoning can test machines..
In this regard, Cwaik highlighted the inherent complexity of both human beings and social organizations and systems, arguing that “artificial intelligence is created by humans and is riddled with bias”. This recognition of the errors and limitations, which have been evident in recent months, suggests a caution against simplification when comparing human capabilities with machines. “Human skills are and will continue to be irreplaceable compared to technical skills,” he says, highlighting a fundamental limitation in our ability to fully master programming and generative AI tools due to relentless technological advancement.
In his second work, Cwaik takes up this idea, proposing that “the real dilemma is not technical, but human.” The adaptation to this reality, for him, lies in the transformation towards post-technological human beings: beings who are not defined by technology but amplified by it, who use it as a tool for social change and well-being, while recognizing that Technology is not the universal panacea for humanity’s challenges.
Continuing with the line of conversation, we inquired about How do you put value on teamwork over technology?
– It is crucial to value work and human skills, giving them a new value in the face of technological advances. An inspiring conversation with my colleague Fredi Vivas, who spoke to an audience about the skills and competencies valued in the 21st century, served as the catalyst for my third publication. We discussed how today, often undervalued competencies such as effective interpretation of messages, fluent communication, oratory, and the ability to convey ideas clearly, in addition to resilience and the use of the scientific method, are essential. We live in a society that privileges immediate results, neglecting the process and deep learning, in a scenario marked by anxiety and impatience, results of rapid technological advancement that seems to alter our daily lives at a dizzying pace.
Faced with this scenario, it is vital to stop, reflect and face this reality without extremism. Constant learning becomes an imperative for the 21st century; It is no longer enough to obtain a degree and stop our intellectual growth. Personal and professional development is a continuous process. These practices and approaches define human beings and organizations in the post-technological era, highlighting the importance of evolving along with technology, but maintaining the qualities that define us as human beings.
Why would someone who knows so much about technology be so interested in humanity?
– It seems to me that it is essential not to fall into extremes, these are not good for anything in life and it is like technology has two great religions. Humberto Eco would say: the apocalyptic and the integrated, that is, the view that technology in some way is catastrophic or on the other hand is the ideal solution to improve the human and social well-being of the world. There are authors like Evgeny Morozov, a quite apocalyptic sociologist, who has a book titled “The Madness of Technological Solutionism” where he looks for that whole current of people who think that anything can be solved with technology. But, this is not an invitation to not understand how technology works, I am the furthest thing from a technophobe, but I think that extremes in life are not good. We are all looking for balance in this sense and in recent years I have devoted myself much more to studying the human bond and the role of the human in that sense.
How do you see this educational transformation after the emergence of artificial intelligence?
– Education is key to changing realities and Andrés Oppenheimer recently explored this concept in his book “How to Get Out of the Well.”. Within its analysis of various sociocultural realities worldwide, it highlights India’s innovative approach to primary education, integrating a mandatory subject on happiness into its curriculum. This approach challenges the traditional perception of happiness as a holistic or intangible concept, underlining its tangible and practical importance in academic training.
Despite the importance given to teaching coexistence and civic responsibility, There is an evident lack of education on how to interact with technology. This omission turns us into a kind of experimental subjects without a guide in the digital world, which leads to phenomena such as “ghosting” which is the practice of conversing with a person and spontaneously disappearing without effective responsibility, and the lack of concreteness in digital interpersonal relationships. Along these lines, the need arises to redefine human ties in the digital context, remembering that behind every screen there is a person.
How do you imagine the world will change?
We find ourselves in an era marked by a high level of uncertainty, especially evident in the field of technology, where innovations like ChatGPT have impacted millions of people in a very short time, exceeding all expectations. This panorama encourages us to take an active role in understanding the present and to anticipate one step further in the digital and technological revolution that we are experiencing. Throughout history, humanity has faced and adapted to disruptive technologies that have transformed our way of life.r, from the adaptation to electricity and the personal computer to the democratization of access to information through the Internet.
The pandemic has served to revalue aspects of human interaction such as physical contact and face-to-face meetings, although later there seemed to be a setback in this appreciation. We are in a period of transition, adapting to great phenomena such as generative artificial intelligence and relationships mediated by screens, while we face challenges associated with anxiety, impatience, and debates about the distribution of power in the 21st century.
In this context, doubt emerges as an essential driver for knowledge, prompting us to question and overcome the complacency generated by certainties. The revaluation of doubt guides us in the process of redefining our humanity in the midst of the “digital tsunami.” Furthermore, after overcoming a pandemic, we face an “infodemic” that challenges us to manage excess information. Information literacy is presented as a key skill, extending beyond mere digital literacy to address how we manage and make efficient use of information through experimental thinkingholistic intelligence, and an integrated understanding of disciplines such as design, social and behavioral sciences.
Finally, this multidisciplinary approach provides us with a guide to coexisting with technology without allowing it to define our humanityoffering tools to navigate with less friction in the digital age.
