Md. Mukhlesur Rahman: How much value academic certificates will retain in the future may become clear sooner than we think.

The extraordinary progress of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is generating unprecedented ideas about education, employment, and the very meaning of skills and qualifications.

We are passing through an era in which technology is advancing at an almost unimaginable pace. The speed at which the world is moving forward is as clear as daylight.

Until recently, AI was largely a subject of discussion among technology professionals. Today, ordinary people are using AI for writing, translation, research, data analysis, image generation, programming, and many other tasks. Work that once required a human employee can now, in some cases, be completed by an AI system within seconds.

Technology is not standing still. The concept of Superintelligence has already entered public and scientific discussion. It refers to a potential AI system capable of surpassing even the most talented humans in almost all forms of intellectual work. This remains a possibility, not an established reality. However, some AI researchers believe that highly advanced AI could emerge much sooner than many people expect.

Former OpenAI researcher Daniel Kokotajlo and his colleagues have made forecasts concerning the rapid development of AI, including the possible emergence of AI systems far more capable than humans and the serious risks that could accompany such development.

Kokotajlo has also taken the position that the race to develop increasingly powerful AI should be slowed and that governments should prepare in advance. His central concern is that if AI advances faster than society’s ability to control, understand and govern it, the time available for preparation could become extremely limited.

This is precisely where we need to rethink our education system.

Suppose an AI system can write a lengthy report within seconds, correct spelling and language errors, translate texts, perform calculations, analyse information, and develop a preliminary research framework on a particular subject. In that case, the necessity of a certificate merely as proof of one’s ability to perform such tasks may gradually diminish.

Spelling correction, accounting, translation, graphic design, customer service, software coding and countless other fields are already being transformed by AI, potentially reducing the demand for human labour in ways that were previously difficult to imagine.

If AI becomes integrated with robotics, the situation could become even more complex. AI-powered robots could perform physical tasks; autonomous vehicles could transform transportation systems; and industrial production could become increasingly automated. Consequently, the traditional role of human workers could decline not only in offices but also in agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and the service sector.

It would be difficult, however, to claim with certainty that AI will eventually perform all human jobs or that academic certificates will become irrelevant within just a few years. Such claims should not be treated as established facts.

History shows that many predictions about the future of technology have proved wrong. Nevertheless, it would be wise to take such scientific forecasts seriously and use them as a basis for preparation and precaution. If some of these predictions do come true, the resulting damage could be extremely difficult to overcome. We therefore need to sharpen our capabilities and keep pace with technological change while there is still time, and our education system must undergo fundamental transformation.

Creativity, ethical judgment, leadership, empathy, communication, critical thinking, the ability to identify problems, team management, decision-making in real-world situations, and the ability to learn new things may become even more important.

For this reason, it would not be appropriate to say that certificates will become completely unnecessary. Doctors, engineers, lawyers and professionals in many other fields will still require formal education and recognised qualifications to establish professional competence. The bigger question is whether a certificate will continue to be regarded as the only or even the primary proof of competence.

Employers may increasingly focus on what a person can actually do, how quickly they can learn something new, and how effectively they can use AI as a tool.

In other words, the education of the future will not be concerned only with “What do I know?” It will increasingly focus on “What can I do?” and “How quickly can I learn something new?”

There is a particularly important lesson here for Bangladesh.

Our education system remains largely centred on examinations, marks and certificates. When a student fails an examination, they may begin to regard themselves as a failure in life. Yet the result of a single examination can never fully determine a person’s intelligence, potential or worth.

Failure in an examination is not failure in life. A certificate may be important, but a person’s value cannot be determined by a certificate.

In this rapidly changing technological era, the purpose of education must therefore change as well. It is no longer enough to prepare a student merely for a particular job. We must prepare young people for a world in which today’s job may not exist tomorrow.

The fundamental objective of education should be to develop the ability to learn. No matter how rapidly AI advances, one of the most important human capabilities of the future will be the ability to continuously reinvent oneself.

We are a generation that has travelled from a world without the internet to a world of smartphones and AI. The pace of change has become so rapid that even being offline for a few hours can make us feel that the world has already moved forward significantly. The coming decade is likely to bring even faster transformation.

Instead of asking, “What certificates do you have?”, more important questions may become:

“How relevant are you?”

“What can you actually do?”

“How quickly can you adapt to new circumstances?”

Certificates will still exist. Universities will still exist. Teachers will still exist. But the meaning of education must evolve.

Greater importance must be given to human judgment, creativity, ethics, practical skills and the capacity for lifelong learning rather than merely memorised knowledge and examination results.

Whether AI ultimately becomes a blessing or a curse for humanity will be determined by time. But one thing is increasingly clear: in the age of AI, one of the major reasons a person may become irrelevant is the inability to keep pace with the changing landscape of knowledge, science, technology and education.

Human beings must remain relevant by taking into account the contemporary environment and the changing realities around them.

The foundation of relevance is not a certificate. It is knowledge, skills, sound judgment, humanity and the capacity to learn throughout life.

Author: Md. Mukhlesur Rahman is an Economist, Social and State Thinker, Educator and Human Rights Activist.