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Professor John Fitzgerald says the claim technology will drive our future is simply wrong. The president of the Australian Academy of the Humanities says what drives our future are the choices we make as a country, and one of the key choices revolves around the future of education.
He cautions against getting too caught up in the potential wonders of machine learning and artificial intelligence and the constant rhetoric around the urgent need to boost science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills by politicians and some of the media.
Fitzgerald agrees increased STEM skills are critical to the future of the country, but believes we need to ensure every student leaves education with a really solid skills mix.
"Australia won't have the skills mix it needs unless we include the humanities and social sciences. What they provide is the ability to think critically, collaboratively and creatively. They assist with cross-cultural understanding in organisations, and they create resilience and curiosity in people," he says.
Yet while Fitzgerald is keen to push the importance of the humanities and social sciences, he is no advocate of the acronym STEAM, where arts are added to STEM.
"STEM disciplines are a discrete set of methodologies, whereas the humanities and social sciences are a separate set of interpretative skills that are of equal value. Social science skills, for example, are going to be needed to manage the challenges workplaces face in the future."
Moreover, Fitzgerald says they are going to be needed to address the ethical questions around AI. It is an interesting point, as AI is really just about crunching the numbers – it's evidence-based. If we are to live by the numbers, Fitzgerald asks where does that leave dissenting opinion?
The vice-chancellor of Curtin University, Professor Deborah Terry, agrees STEAM oversimplifies what a well-rounded education looks like in the future.
"It needs to be more integrative. We need to prepare people to be more innovative, creative and imaginative, which requires a broader suite of attributes and competencies. It's a way of preparing people in a changing labour market.
"Obviously, people have to be comfortable with technology and data (and a whole generation has grown up with both) but we also have to understand the importance of the arts, humanities and social sciences."
Professor Terry says universities and other educational institutions are already changing their curriculums. While technology and data are now embedded in every discipline, she says there is also a focus on teaching broader skills in every subject.
"We're essentially flipping the classroom. For example, universities are changing teaching spaces. Students can download their lectures and then work with that content to solve, address and design solutions to challenges."
For example, engineering students might work on a project presenting a broad set of challenges where they use the core STEM competencies of engineering but also have to examine the human element.
This focus on blending disciplines represents a real shift in teaching and gives students a broader perspective and importantly, it is an idea which has driven society for centuries.
Interestingly, the Australian Academy of the Humanities released a series of case studies in 2015 citing specific examples where a fully integrated approach to problem-solving helped address some critical issues. Professor Brett Neilson from the Western Sydney University's Institute for Culture and Society, has worked closely with a number of international collaborators examining the social and cultural impacts of China's One Belt, One Road strategy.
While most of the headlines focus on the mammoth infrastructure investment as China creates a modern version of the old Silk Road, Neilson and his collaborators have also been closely examining the societal impacts.
The case study outlines how logisticians seek the most efficient means of transporting people and goods and, increasingly, ideas and technologies. While technical and managerial expertise are critical, Neilson believes navigating the differences in language, culture and labour practices, along with social and political complexities, are also key in ensuring the success of the vast project.
Both Terry and Fitzgerald agree education needs to help foster business and entrepreneurial skills. They are relatively sanguine about the future and they believe a number of huge new industries will be born, in a manner similar to the invention of the automobile. While a lot of farriers went out of business, a lot more industry was created.
Their key message is education needs to foster imagination, innovation and entrepreneurship.
"Automation will enhance our productivity and increase consumption which will lead to growth, but we have to ensure people are prepared and have an income. We need to make sure graduates have jobs when they leave university, not just be job-ready; they need to be prepared for lifelong learning," Fitzgerald says.
"Furthermore, we must stop having an excessive focus on STEM as it could skew our need for a complex brew of skills mixing, including a very bright future for trades and vocational learning in this country."
It is this complex brew which Professor Terry says will not only equip the next generation with the skills to succeed in a changing labour market but will also "allow them to shape the future as well".
