In order to have that feeling of “I get it,” that satisfaction that feels so good, we need a little struggle. Human beings love that feeling so much that we invent challenges. We learn to skateboard, we have team sports, music, painting, poetry, and yes, mathematics. A huge part of any a-ha moment is understanding something you once did not understand, or suddenly succeeded where before you had failed. AI can’t steal the joy of learning something new.
I have been watching the baby in our family. And let me tell you, he relishes struggle every day. Right now, he’s working on standing up, and he’ll do anything to get there: slide his face up the wall; ladder grab the baby gate; crash back to sitting by accident. And he tries again. He’s getting better and grunts with determination and squeals with delight while alternating between success and failure. AI can’t steal the joy of that learning.
I listened to the Steven Strogatz interview about how AI has solved some really big math problems recently – the subject of decades, and sometimes centuries of mathematical struggles. These problems, invented by mathematicians, served up solid obstacles for determined mathematicians seeking the joy of finally solving t
hem. Now, AI has solved them. The mystery is gone. Melancholy, Strogatz reflects, “We all have our time.,” inferring that the time of great passionate mathematicians has passed. When I watch our baby however, I am as convinced as ever that AI can’t steal the joy of learning.
We will continue to reshape, reinvent, and reform mathematics for a-ha moments. That starts in math class. Like I said last week, if AI can do the math in the way we are asking our students to do it, we are asking the wrong questions. Instead, we can help them learn to puzzle with the determination of a baby learning to stand, and the passion of a mathematician solving big problems.
My favorite place to find such puzzling problems is nRich. Here, Cambridge University has curated genuine puzzlers that bring the satisfaction of an a-ha moment. AI can’t steal that.