With the rising abundance of AI tools, there has been a rising concern for the younger generation and their role when entering the workforce. The most recent advancements in the AI industry, like the photo-realistic videos being produced by the new Open AI app, Sora2, to the reports of many entry-level jobs being cut in favor of AI are reports that can give us pause. Is an education path in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) just as valuable today, in the new world of AI?
As a parent of three kids, this question and others have popped into my head many times. What will this AI world look like over the next five years? What will it look like when my kids eventually graduate and start their journey into the workforce? How will it affect what they study in school?
The technological landscape is ever-evolving and rapidly changing; it’s important that we, as parents and educators, direct our kids along paths that provide them opportunities to develop and use their uniquely human skill sets. The world of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics is changing rapidly, and it’s critical that we recognize this change. Rather than cower from these reports and let apathy take its insidious hold, we should motivate our children to push forward towards the future with hope.
When looking at the massive layoffs in software companies who are using AI to replace human labor, it can sometimes fill me with despair. The number of software engineers hired in the US over the last five years looks like a steep cliff when placed on a graph. So what do I tell my child who has a mind for mathematics? Who likes to build and tinker? Who likes to figure out problems and loves the fact that there is a right answer? Instead of letting that pessimism take hold, I instead flip the script and ask, if he or she can use AI to help find the answer, why shouldn’t they?
I would like to propose that the hands-on application of these tools (not an overreliance of this quickly emerging software) mixed with healthy socialization and practice in the arts will be the unique 3-way intersection that will unlock unlimited possibilities for our children.
Let me unpack that in a few short thoughts, calling upon my experience building Red Door Escape Room for the last 10 years and running an international network of entrepreneurs.
Hands-on Application
One of the things that makes Red Door unique is its in-house engineering and design team. We hand-design and create all the props that you see inside our rooms today. From the simple magnet lock to the intrigue wall safes; our team has put love, care, and thought into every one of these puzzles. These are the set of skills that AI will never be able to accomplish by itself, and what makes our team so amazing. Many of our design team members have gone from Red Door to bigger companies because of their ability to join both the hardware and software needed to bring real products and services to life. From defense contractors to common household manufacturers, they need people who can bring together the electrical components and make something unique while also having the logic to troubleshoot when things don’t go well and plan out a route-of-action. That’s what our design team does, and that’s what makes them incredibly valuable.
The good news is that programming has never been easier with the help of AI, which actually opens up incredible possibilities for software integrated into practical everyday uses. Our design team’s software engineers have utilized AI to simplify and assist their coding capabilities to enhance our escape room experience. The escape room industry has been built on this principle: How can we bring together simple software and simple hardware that blow people’s minds?
Magically pull a sword out of the stone and the maglock releases on the door behind you to reveal the castle? That can be programmed by somebody in high school now, no problem. But to put it all together with 5 other puzzles that all work together seamlessly is a bit of a harder task. In a world where our basic needs are covered, the challenge is not “how do we make enough food?” the question is really “how can we become most fulfilled as humans?” In this rapidly evolving tech landscape, the challenge is how we can use the smart integration of hardware and software to delight people, build communities, and be even more human. There are endless possibilities in this realm.
Healthy Socialization
The world of social media has been designed to funnel people into small and loud echo chambers. When we’re in these echo chambers, it’s easy to forget that the online world isn’t our reality. It’s easy to get into an us-vs-them mentality that separates us. It’s easy to distract us from what is important in life, and easy for us to forget that most people really do think similarly. And it’s hard to think about how to separate us from this digital world (or want to).
Enter: unplug and spend time in real life with different sorts of people.
For kids we call this socialization, for adults we just call this social time. It’s critical and we can lose practice quickly. It’s critical that we don’t only teach socialization, but also practice it; practice understanding and working with people of all walks in life. The smartest minds in the classroom aren’t the ones with the highest intellect, it’s the people who actively seek knowledge from others, that gather information from people that don’t think like them, look like them, or have the same beliefs. Socialization can happen through sports, organized or unorganized, social gaming, group challenges, or time spent with others outdoors and off screens. The students that are able to see through the eyes of others will be able to approach and solve problems in their own unique ways.
The Arts
There is something that elite colleges have known for a long time that often gets missed in primary schools: the arts. Music, theater, performance, visual arts: this expression of self is a massive unlock to problem solving. More than 70 percent of incoming students to MIT (Mass Int. of Tech), one of the top technical institutions in the world, have advanced musical experience. This high percentage isn’t by accident by the administration. Learning some sort of artistic expression at a young age, and the discipline to continue it throughout your life has proven to enhance critical thinking skills, develop a problem solving mindset, and boost long-term and short-term memories.
There are so many disciplines within the technical world that focus on user experience. This is because even the most powerful software, if not packaged in a beautiful and intuitive way, will not attract people to use it. Humans are deeply hardwired for beauty, it’s one of the best ways to introduce new ideas. Beautiful stories still captivate the minds of all ages, and there’s something about looking at a beautiful landscape that causes us to pause. Beauty is written deep in our souls, and our ability to bring that into the work that we do makes our contribution to the world unique and unreplicable by AI.
These three things – hands on application, healthy socialization, and exposure to the arts – are what come together in the world of escape rooms, and in the larger world of experiential entertainment that we’ve been building for the last 10 years at Red Door. We’re excited to offer our STEAM package because we can be even more explicit about our offering space in a world that desperately needs it. I hope we can continue to delight and inspire the next generation to build even more beautiful than we do. That’s what gets us fired up every day.
Nick Madden, CEO
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