Kicking up dust

What a week it was! I blame David Abdulah for inviting me to discuss T&T's 64 years of Independence just as the PM had let loose on her opinion about the wonderful condition in which British colonialism had left us in 1962. Well, who tell me to be me? From one side came barrage after barrage of their choicest, most colourful words; from the other came offerings of prayers, protection and a luxury bunker. The luxury bunker was intriguing for half a second but ultimately no competition for the lifetime freedom of my hammock. Before proceeding, let me first express my deep appreciation for the untiring efforts of generations of politicos to transform me into either PNM, ULF, ONR, NAR and UNC, with UNC and PNM on repeat since 1995. I guess I'm just congenitally incapable of gymnastics and a lost cause for political baptism. In any case, neither PNM nor UNC should want me among their flock; I'm just far too troublesome and chronically incapable of conformity. So count your blessings and save your breath. Except for one exception—the towering magnificence of Anil Roberts. Anil's post on me is so worth the breath expended that I must urge you to go find it and revel in its sheer glory. It says so much more about his genius than I ever could. The breadth of his vocabulary of synonyms for 'idiot' alone is just a thing of beauty. Reminds me of Dr Rowley's unique specialisation in Caribbean Hindustani words for confusion and bacchanal—­kuchoor, hassikara, jhanjhat and, maybe, harbat, too. Not sure if he ever used that one, though. Some people just have a way with words, I suppose. Now, on to the business at hand. Two recently released reports require our immediate attention. One is on 'AI Use in Teaching, Learning, and Research Training' produced by an ad hoc committee at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The other is Thursday's update on the weather phenomenon known as El Niño from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Both are scary and demand that we take our heads out of the sand and focus on what is before us. The glib way in which T&T is approaching the incorporation of AI into the education system should alarm every parent, educator, policymaker and member of the public. This is a matter on which parents and educators need to lead and not just assume that policymakers know what they are doing. This is not a slur against ministry officials; it is simply that the rollout of AI technology globally so outpaces the research on its impact that nobody really knows the consequences until they show up. Everything we know about AI's impact was learned after the fact. It took the suicide of children for parents and the tech industry to understand and acknowledge that the empathetic, approval-seeking qualities built into AI assistants such as ChatGPT could actually lead them into danger. The MIT report opens with an unadorned statement: 'This is a call to action.' The need for pioneering a new model of education celebrating 'human wisdom and connection' was advocated with urgency. Bear in mind that MIT has been deeply involved in developing AI and is only now, as problems are beginning to surface, recognising that AI is generating both immediate rapid changes and long-term tectonic disruptions. The report is online and accessible. Just google MIT AI Committee Final Report. Concerned parents, teachers and others should get together and organise themselves to engage the Ministry of Education with questions and concerns. The other matter regarding El Niño and its impact on the global food supply and food prices was forcefully highlighted in an update on Thursday with WMO forecasting a 'near 100% likelihood' that El Niño will persist through February 2027. The Caribbean is told to expect severe drought and heat. Elsewhere, El Niño will translate into extreme flooding. If the WMO models are accurate, and officials seem quite confident in them, the world is in for a rough time with food shortages and supply chain disruptions resulting in increased prices, loss of farming land, collapse of agricultural businesses and nutrition deficits, especially among the poor. We in T&T need more granular information about specifically what to expect at the household and community levels, including schools, and what plans are in place. Compared to what could be coming, the political dust kicked up last week may hardly be worth a sneeze. Here again, communities and other interests need to organise, guided by the mantra to 'prepare for the worst and hope for the best'. —Sunity Maharaj