The Interview

===><===== (text-style: "blink")[Beep...Beep...Beep...] <= The sound of the alarm going off is an unwelcome intrusion to what was already a fitfull night of sleep for Ernesto. He thinks to himself that maybe he should just give in and let his children buy him one of those bio-alarms to help him wake at just the right time in his sleep cycle. Then again, he's resisted so long, it's become a running joke now in the family. If he's honest, he finds it quite fun to have to keep on coming up with little quips for everyone's amusement as reasons for his refusal to take up the new gadget. Alas, it's time to get ready and face the day... He knew it was coming and maybe tonight he'll sleep better when it's all over. [[On to the office we go]]

David Roy 2.0 is there to greet him at the door. Maybe not as friendly as the old David (bless him, hopefully he is enjoying his retirement in Costa Rica), the MET's new robot assistant sure is efficient. (set: _list to (a: "Coffee", "Tea")) (dropdown: bind $Choice, ..._list) prepared just as Ernesto likes it in hand, David Roy 2.0 offers him the warm beverage and he heads into his office before the robot assistant can begin relaying the tasks lying ahead for the day. Ernesto doesn't need a reminder, he knows the interview is scheduled for today. [[Ernesto's office]]

Just before entering the office, the Mixed Reality display catches his eye on the door: Prof. Ernesto Pena- Director (MET Program). *sigh...* [[Plotting down behind his desk]], a virtual display generates in front of him- rather old AR technology now, Ernesto still prefers working with some kind of digital screen to project his work. There's something special about this old technology that relied on visually connecting pieces of information. Alas, how times have changed.

David Roy 2.0 (the naming of the bot was a parting gift from the retired David Roy) sends through important notifications for the day in a pop up screen that displays against the wall opposite Ernesto's desk. At the bottom of the screen appears a scrolling ribbon with his //personalized dynamic content info feed//- everything from carefully curated news articles that would catch his attention, to inner circle social media feed updates to his latest bio diagnostics (he could have guessed his blood pressure would have been elevated even before the confirmation came through on his scroll). Ernesto still misses those old newspapers he could page through himself with the ink rubbing off on his fingers...even with the transition to an online format, there was a sense that you had to scroll through the information curated by journalists and publishers yourself to find content that was relevant to you in some way. He wonders what others see in their //personalized dynamic content feeds// every day? How many other people would be notified today about the first A.I. to have won a Pulitzer prize? For whom else did the algorithms think this would be important information? Anyway, no time to reminisce about the good ol' days. Gotta focus here. [["David... Are the candidates here? It's almost 9 am"]]

"Yes, Prof. Pena. I have them here waiting. Who would you like to see first?" [["Andre, first please"]] [["Please ask Maya to come through first"]] [["Send them both in"]]

"Guys... It's wonderful to see you both after such a long time. Please take a seat." Maya shuffles to a seat closest to the window and Andre settles in his seat directly facing Ernesto. Both take a second to admire their old professor...thinking back to when they were participants in his old ETEC540 course in 2020. Surprisingly he doesn't look like he's aged much. His eyes might look older and wiser but his general appearance doesn't look much different at all. Maybe it's those new regenerative supplements... who knew they worked so well... "How long has it been?" he asks as he takes a seat behind his own desk again. Maya smiles when she sees a picture on the desk of her professor with his kids taken at Disney World and she wonders whether he made the choice to go because the class had egged him on during one of their video chats. [["30 years, I believe"]] Andre offers.

Ernesto pauses for a second. [["Wait... wait... Sorry, ask them both to come in."->"Send them both in"]]

Hmmm... maybe a different approach could be the answer here. [["Wait... wait... Sorry, ask them both to come in.->"Send them both in"]]

"Wow! I can't believe it. You both went on to do such amazing things and now you're back, interviewing for my job. We've come a long way." Andre chuckles, "yup, but you too, Prof. Going on to becoming director of the MET program, presenting your research by invitation at some of the largest conferences in the ed. tech. space. We feel honoured to be back." Maya chimes in, "I couldn't agree more, we were very priviliged to have studied in the MET, who knew it would prepare us so well for our different future careers. The knowledge we gained in ETEC540 and the other courses offered, certainly prepared us for the huge transitions we've seen in the world of technology since then." Ernesto clears his throat, "well, I think that actually creates the perfect starting point for the interview process. Now, I know it's a little unconventional to have two people interview together but you have chosen such divergent paths of one another, that I'm curious to find out what has influenced those choices." [[So, let's begin...]]

"I am curious to hear your views on what the future holds for the relationship between technology, humanity and education but I'd also like you to reflect a little on how you think that relationship developed over time" Andre: "The MET most certainly inspired me to pursue a career that leverages technology for the sake of humanity. Even back in 2020, the benefits of utilizing AI and machine learning was very evident to me and I knew I could make a contribution to further advance our use of these technologies. Bringing the world of humans and computers closer together became my life-long goal." Maya: "Well, I think it's pretty obvious that I went a little bit of a different route than Andre. After I was diagnosed with an incurable genetic mutation back in 2030, I underwent voluntary hibernation until such time that the medical world could supply me a cure. When I woke up 15 years later, I was honestly shocked and horrified by what I saw had become of society. I knew I wanted to work towards changing that. It's for that reason that I chose to become a museum curator of digital artifacts- I wanted to better showcase how technologies developed over time and with that our relationships with those changing technologies." Ernesto: "Hmmm... I want to follow up on both of those statements but maybe we can start with Andre. Can you tell me more about what your company is doing now and how you managed to fulfill your goal of bringing the world of computers and humans even closer together than what we explored in ETEC540 all those years ago?" Andre: [["Sure..."]]

"So my company, XLife, started out about 15 years ago after I had decided I had had enough of Silicon Valley where I worked on a few rather mundane data tracking applications. I felt frustrated by the idea that we weren't really exploring the full capacity of what technology could offer us and so I chatted to friends in the medical field and the idea of digital immortality came up." Ernesto remembers reading about his mogul ex-student and the lavish lifestyle he now lives thanks to the growth of his start-up into a multi-billion dollar industry. "The idea was simple but also hard to execute. However, the principle is that as we age, our brain cells starts dying away and we thought that if we could have some sort of artificial brain cells replacing those dying brain cells, then our minds would be able to achieve a sort of immortality unlike anything we have seen before." Maya:"But it does more than just //replace// brain cells that have died away, right?" Andre: "Well yes, we couldn't not take advantage of the potential that all the technology at hand offered us, that would be foolish. We had an opportunity to advance the human race after all... achieve our next level of evolution." Ernesto: "Please go on..." "Our Xcells were thus designed to not only slowly replace dying brain cells in humans over time but also have the ability to connect and interact with computers and the cloud." Maya choffed: "You mean, people became more like robots then?" [[Andre gets up to leave, he didn't come here to be insulted.]] [[Andre ignores the comment and continues...]]

Ernesto hastily gets up too, "no no, please stay. I really want to learn more about your work and I think what we might need is just a round of some tea and biscuits. I'll get David Roy 2.0 to bring us some." [[Andre continues ->Andre ignores the comment and continues...]]

Andre continues, "so you know the old saying they had years and years ago when we were still students, that mobile phones had become and extension of the human body, the phantom limb so to speak. We did exactly that but with all the world's technology at a person's disposable. Now all technology acts as an extension of the human mind. No need to ever search for the word you were thinking about on a physical device, your Xcells would automatically have it ready for you... there was no need to really tune into the news or read a book about archeology for example, your Xcells could just download all relevant info available in the cloud to your mind and integrates it into your thought process. You won't even realize you had just gained new information, it would just be there... accessible already." Maya: "Who decides though?" Andre: "Pardon me?" Maya: "If I wanted relevant info on archeology...how do the Xcells decide what is that relevant info?" Andre: "Our engineers of course have that covered, we have trained our A.I. to be the world's top algorithmic engineers. Are you doubting their training? I can ensure you that we have trained them on every possible database you can imagine." Ernesto: "Okay, to bring it back to the MET now- how do you see this innovation influencing the world of education? As the MET focuses on preparing the next generation of educational technologists, there is also a responsibility to investigate the relationship between new technology and students." [[Maya clears her throat]] [[Andre clearly has his answer ready]]

Maya get's ready to speak but just as she opens her mouth, Andre beats her to it... [[Andre starts to speak ->Andre clearly has his answer ready]]

"I really think that's the new horizon, we can transform schooling here. My company is running clinical trials that looks at introducing Xcells into younger brains... We're very excited to see what the results will be from our experiments. Will human and artificial cells merge and become one? Will one type dominate the other? Either way, the MET needs to explore how best to train educators for the possibility of such integrations. Once we receive FDA clearance, this will revolutionize teaching and much of our current education system will become obselete. Students won't need any time to learn a new skill or language... the knowledge will already be available to students whenever they need it." Maya looks horrified... Ernesto realizes it's time for her to speak... "Maya, would you like to interject?" There's an audible gulp as Maya bravely sits forward and says, "Andre, if what you say comes to be, then we will lose the very essence of what it means to be human. The very thing that has distinguished humans from all other species of animals on this planet, has been our astounding ability to learn. By observing, mimicking, faltering and adapting, problem solving, creating and applying, we have not only ensured our species' survival but have achieved incredible things. It was a human's mathematical skills that helped get us to the moon and not the computer. If we followed the computer's calculations, we would have missed our opportunity." This is why Ernesto felt so anxious about this interview. These two candidates hold very different views of what the future human relationship should be like with technology. [[Maya continues]]

Maya developes a deep furrow in her brow as she continues, "this is exactly why I took up the position of museum curator for digital artifacts. Someone has to remember where these technologies came from, why they were developed to begin with in order for us to better reflect on how our current situation has come to be." Andre seems agitated that his old classmate would take such a different approach than him to the blending of technology and human society. "Andre, what has happened is that we have blurred the lines of what is human and what is technology... There is no relationship between technology and humans in the world you are describing for that would imply two separate entities. You describe a situation in which they have become one." "No longer are we asking people to reflect on and construct the words they want to use for communication with one another.... There is no space to be creative and think outside the box. We aren't allowing them to make connections between pieces of information on their own, they have been supplied with the network of connections already... albeit a network determined by a nameless entity not familiar with human values and morality. A construct of a construct has decided for us the knowledge worlds we'll live in." Ernesto interjects, "so Maya, what implications does that hold for the MET? What do you think should the focus of the program become?" [[Maya looks to Andre and back to Ernesto.]]

Maya then says, "honestly, we need to re-evaluate our relationship with technology. We need to begin by reflecting on the past and understand what choices led to the version of the world we see today. I think the last 30 years is littered with instances that have been defining points on our path. In 2020, people were already debating the ethical implications of applying solely alogrithms to help solve human problems for example. When we can identify those defining points, we will be in a better position to find what needs to change in order to win back some of what was lost when we began to blur the lines between humans and computers." Then there's a creak of a door. David Roy 2.0 peers inside. "I'm sorry Prof. Pena but your next appointment starts in 2 minutes." Ernesto wishes he could continue the conversation, there is still so much to flesh out and how does he make his choice. He can't deny the good that new technology has had on everyone's lives but he is increasingly been made aware of what has been lost. He stands up to shake both of their hands and then says, "thank you both for coming. I'm sure we'll be in contact over our personalized dynamic content feeds soon." Who does Ernesto pick? [[Andre]] [[Maya]]

Ahhh... a driver of new innovations. Andre will do wonderful things for the MET program, he will bring to it the most cutting edge theories and applications to advance the computer-human interface. It will be one of THE most sought after graduate programs to gain acceptance into. For quite some time, he will remain popular among colleagues and students but the winds of change are approaching and people will look to others in order to help them reclaim their humanity. Will Andre join their fight? He might... ===><===== The End

Maya is a wonderful candidate for the position of MET director. She has come to realize that despite all the advances we have made with the integration of more and more technology in our lives, there has been a hidden cost that we have been less aware of. Her work in the MET will be pioneering and students from all corners of the globe will flock to the program and ultimately more awareness around the blurred lines between technology and humanity will be created. In the years to come, people will begin to demand a change and Maya's voice will be central to their fight. ===><===== The End

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