6 min read
Before You Use AI, Understand What Education Really Is
What does it mean to educate? If you were to say pouring information into ourselves, not only is that wrong, but is one of the reasons why so many of us do not receive a fulfilling education. True education, unlike gold for example, does not enrich us when we possess more information. Education’s true wealth comes from leading us out of ignorance so we are filled with truth. What does that mean? Keeping with the gold analogy, education is more like us mining our souls and finding that we are already filled with gold just waiting to be treasured. This true version of how we are educated is even better articulated by Socrates, a famous Greek philosopher, who referred to himself as a midwife rather than a teacher. He described to his students how he helped them through the labor of “birthing” ideas. He never gave ideas since he considered himself barren. So like a midwife, he supported his students through the painful process of awakening the knowledge they already had sleeping in the darkness to light.
With this understanding from the gold analogy, and Socrates' metaphor, we have revealed three important points to consider for this article, and how it ultimately will tie to our relationship to AI. First, the truth is already within us. Second, we bear the responsibility of discovering the truth. The third, truth requires the challenges of dialogue, argumentation and questioning (Videtur Quod Non).
Truth is not external; it is already within
The Catholic Church teaches that every human being is made in the image and likeness of God. This means that truth–God’s eternal law–is written into our very nature. It is our faculty of reason, when properly exercised, that allows us to read and interpret this law. This means that no one invents or creates morality. We discover it.
You bear responsibility to discover the truth.
St. Paul tells us, “For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse” (Romans 1:19-20). Father Jean-Pierre in his book, Abandonment to Divine Providence discusses in Book One that God works with “the soul to make it like unto Himself.”1 Our life, that is, our pathway to perfection (sanctity) is simply to co-operate with God’s design by discovering how to order ourselves to the truth which has been placed all around us in the order of nature like St. Paul said–there is no excuse for discovering the truth.
Truth requires Videtur Quod Non
The phrase Videtur Quod Non means: “It would seem.” This was a form of argumentation once used in the education system of universities that began by opposing the truth. For example, a student who was defending the truth that education is to perfect the individual to be ordered to God would be confronted by an opposition, “it would seem that education is for the greater good of society rather than for the spiritual enrichment of the individual.” What would follow the opposition were the reasons why the opposing statement was wrong. This form of dialogue caused everyone who was involved to dive deeper in understanding the truth. What students learned in this dynamic is that error is not something to fear, but rather is a tool or means to be utilized so that truth shines brighter. Argumentation is what soon to be Blessed Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, “the capability of man to use his brain and come to knowledge of God.”2
Education in the Church
Catechesis in the Church, is never trying to indoctrinate. The Church is only concerned, like Socrates, with awakening the soul to the truth that exists within each and every person. How many lost sheep today know deep down inside that they are children of God, that love is real, that their suffering has meaning, or that their life is so precious that God gave His only Son to save them from sin?
Why do so many resist the truth is because Socrates was right. The truth can hurt at first. Most if not all of us do not want to suffer. When we confront our lies, errors and the way in which we live that is counter to God’s design, it is very difficult, and painful to accept. Then comes the cross we have to pick up to convert ourselves to the truth which can feel like at first 1000 pounds. There is the “labor” that the soul must go through, but unlike Socrates who is a barren midwife to his students, the true Teacher is “the Way, and the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6), who “satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things” (Psalm 107:9) because “the love of Christ” fills us “with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19).
Education and Technology
Now that we have a better understanding of what education truly is, we can see why our relationship with AI matters so much. As we begin to see on the horizon the new school year approaching, this article arrives at the right moment for us to reflect on our relationship with AI. More and more people this year will be using AI as a tool for their education. Below are three points to consider:
- AI is first and foremost not a teacher. It can be a resource, but it does not replace the knowledge that comes from the teachers in the classroom and more importantly it does not equal the wisdom of God.
- AI is a data machine that is filled with all kinds of information. This does not mean however, that this information is correct. There are a lot of platforms out there that are developed to give answers that lean toward political views; that extract information from unchecked sources; and are not particularly interested in sharing the truth which could be hard to process, but rather, attend to the needs of a person so that they feel comforted even if they are in the wrong.
- AI does make everything easier, but learning requires effort. This effort however, does not mean a toilsome endeavor. Learning is discovering, and discovery is exciting. Anyone who has felt inspiration or seen the works of their creativity feels a tiny piece of heaven. Why do we feel this? Learning is also an encounter. The more we learn and understand the world around us, the more God becomes clearer to us. This is not a feature in AI’s algorithm. This encounter belongs to the rhythmic order found in nature that is waiting for us to discover.
At Acutis we pray for all the families preparing for the new school year and we hope that it is a year filled with education that enriches the soul of each and every individual so that they can encounter Christ in their life.
God bless
Joseph Daniels
Acutis AI Writer
