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Teaching is the hottest industry for Gen Z grads<\/a> right now\u2014but those dreaming of stepping into the shoes of those who inspired them should know that the industry could look a world away from the one they grew up in.<\/p>\n \u201cThe university of the future will not look like the university of today,\u201d the visionary Mary Meeker warned in her latest Bond Captial report.<\/a> \u201cWe are living in an amazingly exciting time for technological innovation, and it can\u2019t be stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n The veteran Wall Street analyst made a name for herself in the 90s as the \u201cQueen of the Net\u201d after being one of the first to predict the web\u2019s impact on everyone\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n Before the subsequent dot-com bust briefly dented her reputation<\/a>, her 1995 \u201cInternet Trends\u201d reports became known as \u201cthe Bible\u201d for tech investors\u2014and she\u2019s not stopped writing predictions about the future since.<\/p>\n Now, after a four-year break since Meeker last published a report, she has returned to give her insights on how AI will impact teaching and, more specifically, universities\u2014and it\u2019s good news for those who dread the idea of marking homework every evening. <\/p>\n Research shows<\/a> that trust in teachers is already plunging to an all-time low. But Meeker\u2019s analysis suggests it\u2019s only going to get worse.<\/p>\n As the shining bright faces of tomorrow will have so much more information readily available to them, teachers will have an even tougher job getting their pupils to listen to them as authoritative figures.<\/p>\n \u201cThe rapidly accelerating volume and accessibility of information online, for better or worse, means that students (and others) no longer take leading opinions on faith,\u201d Meeker explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n It means that the teachers of tomorrow will need to fight with content creators\u2014some of whom are spouting fake news and spreading misogynistic views <\/a>which are already being repeated in classrooms\u2014for students\u2019 confidence.<\/p>\n \u201cTrust in authority and institutions is foundational to a civil society, and earning (and reearning) that trust is a challenge and an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n Teachers will also have a hard time steering pupils away from taking in \u201cfacts\u201d from hallucinating large language models that contradict textbooks.<\/p>\n \u201cAI tutors are now available to anyone with internet access\u2026And, in the land of artificial intelligence\u2014well, the intelligence (just like in the real world) can be artificial,\u201d Meeker added. \u201cModels can provide one answer and get it way right\u2026or way wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n To top it off, teachers will not only have to deal with students dismissing them because of what they read online but also because they don\u2019t think school is needed for career success anymore.<\/p>\n As Meeker explains: \u201cIncreasingly, younger people seek out income streams that do not require accredited licenses and\/or degrees, with the ability to earn ad-hoc income via on-demand service work.\u201d<\/p>\n In the end, it could result in smaller university classrooms and checked-out students who don\u2019t believe they need to be there.<\/p>\n Although AI will mean teachers have a harder time inspiring the youth of tomorrow\u2014it\u2019ll also free up a lot more time for them to focus on precisely that.<\/p>\n \u201cThe promise of AI is to enable a new art of teaching that enhances students\u2019 ability to think and reason while letting AI do more of the processing,\u201d Meeker explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs technology evolves and becomes more widely available, teachers should be able to save time and increase productivity, focusing more on their core craft by leveraging AI for more time-intensive tasks.\u201d<\/p>\n Essentially, she suggests that AI should eliminate much of the drudgery of teaching, like marking homework and devising lesson plans well into the evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the same time, AI\u2014made lesson plans will be more tailored to each student\u2019s needs thanks to its ability to analyze performance, learning styles, and knowledge gaps.\u00a0<\/p>\n Future teachers could also have access to attendance tracking, intervention alerts for students falling behind, and life-like guest lecturers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cImagine discussing Newton\u2019s 3rd Law with Newton himself,\u201d Meeker wrote, adding that \u201cminimizing stale lessons\u201d and \u201creducing unpaid teacher prep work\u201d will both reduce teacher burnout and enhance creativity in the classroom.<\/p>\n\nTeacher-pupil trust will be even lower than it is today<\/h2>\n
Less admin and more time to \u2018cheerlead\u2019<\/h2>\n