Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft, used a phrase recently that stayed with me longer than I expected.
He spoke about a future where our work is not simply to manage systems or organisations, but to learn how to manage infinite minds. Minds extended by AI. Minds with access, speed, and reach far beyond what we had at the same age.
Hearing this, I took it as a quiet challenge to us as adults—especially those of us in schools.
Working in international education, I see this every day. Our students are already navigating multiple languages, identities, value systems, and expectations. They cross borders physically and cognitively, often before they’ve fully figured out who they are.
AI doesn’t introduce complexity into their lives—it amplifies what was already there.
And that amplification has made me pause, not to ask what more we should teach, but what more we need to be.
I keep coming back to the idea that infinite minds don’t actually need tighter management. They need steadiness. They need adults who are grounded enough not to rush to control, correct, or compete with the technology. Adults who can sit comfortably in uncertainty, who don’t confuse authority with having all the answers, and who trust that learning can be shared rather than supervised.
Trust feels foundational here—not just trust in students, but trust in ourselves to let go of being the central source of knowledge.
Curiosity feels just as important. Not the kind we design into lessons, but the kind we live out loud. The willingness to wonder with students rather than ahead of them. To ask better questions instead of faster ones. In a world where answers are instant, curiosity becomes an act of care. It slows things down. It reminds students that thinking is not about efficiency, but meaning.
I’ve also been reflecting on critical thinking—not as a skill students demonstrate, but as a stance we model. With AI, the challenge is no longer access to information, but discernment.
What do we trust? What do we question? When do we pause?
Students learn this less from rubrics and more from watching how we respond when we’re unsure, when we disagree respectfully, when we choose not to rush to conclusions.
There’s a subtle wellbeing dimension here too—because constant acceleration, even intellectual, can be exhausting.
And then there’s creativity. AI can generate endlessly, but it cannot decide what matters. That decision still sits with humans. In schools, creativity now feels less about performance and more about agency—about giving students space to shape ideas that reflect who they are, what they care about, and the communities they belong to.
What I’m noticing is that this moment isn’t asking educators to become more impressive or more technologically fluent. It’s asking us to become more human.
To shift quietly from managing learning to stewarding it. From directing students to walking alongside them. From certainty to discernment. That feels especially true in international schools, where students are already learning how to navigate complexity, difference, and change.
Right now, I don’t have a conclusion to this wondering —just a question I’m learning to live with.
If our students’ minds are becoming infinite, perhaps the work is not to contain them, but to strengthen the inner parts of ourselves that help us hold them well.
And maybe that work begins not with new tools or frameworks, but with how we show up—calm, curious, and willing to wonder alongside them.
Surely I am not the only educator who is tired of watching lipstick being put on pig after pig. Apparent improvements on the surface without really addressing what is required. Intentions and measures taken to raise test scores, create policies around AI usage, and nail down portraits of graduates. Each might appear successful but ignores the deeper issues. I only trust 2026 will result in letting the pig be a pig. This possibly requires discomfort as we remove the veneer, are more honest, and see things for what they are. Notably also, for where we currently stand. Then, and only then, might we address what truly is priority. Seemingly, I consistently keep coming back to the power of slowing down. Society is not becoming any less rushed or distracted, so we must learn to consciously do this, slow down. AI this. AI that. Everywhere we turn, AI. Important it clearly is, however it is imperative we gather our thoughts and our selves. Reflecting on what matters most, so as to protect the very human values that make us who we are.
When Outsourced Systems Stop Seeing People
Over the holidays, several hours passed me by as I tried to fix a holiday flight issue. The “support” I received was outsourced and scripted. My frustration mounted as a result of loud background noise at a busy foreign call center. I could barely hear or understand. At times I questioned if I was even communicating with a human. With each phone call, chat, and e-mail, my sense of helplessness left me feeling like I was free falling into an abyss. What contributed most to this, was that it did not appear that anyone was truly listening or moreover, willing to take ownership.
At one point I surprised myself with the nerve to ask, “Who is responsible here?” Only to be met with, “I don’t understand sir.”
“Uggh!” Not one to give up, I trudged on.
A reader may wonder what this has to do with education. Everything!
Efficiency at What Cost?
Just as no company can outsource responsibility without losing trust, schools cannot outsource learning or human connection without losing purpose. A similar frustration I felt shows up in classrooms and throughout the current decaying education system. The quest for efficiency, blended with AI tools may accelerate the “knowledge” economy but, such automation may just be racing us further apart as humans. Einstein warned, “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” Specifically, he was concerned that ethics were lagging behind as weapons had become powerful enough to destroy humanity. AI is the “weapon” at our doorstep in 2026. More than two and a half years ago, professor Ethan Mollick shared with McKinsey Global Institute imparted AI wasn’t a future threat but was already reshaping the world of work and learning. A tremendous amount has happened in the last couple years. For comparison, the number of transistors on a CPU (computer chip) is said to follow Moore’s Law, doubling roughly every 18–24 months. This led to computers becoming exponentially faster, smaller, and more powerful over time. Until recently, Moore’s Law was haunting growth. AI scaling however, is traveling even faster, doubling in capability in 6-12 months! Such breakneck speed requires even more consideration of and for ethics. Anthropic, an AI research company and public benefit corporation focused on building safe, reliable, and helpful AI systems, is best known for its Claude family of large language models (LLMs). In an article titled, Anthropic’s “Soul Overview” for Claude Has Leaked, Anthropic revealed how they “want Claude to support human oversight of AI,” and to “behave ethically” and “genuinely helpful to operators and users.” So, whilst companies train AI to be ethical, we each may be wise to not give up our own governorship, deciding for ourselves when AI truly helps us instead of just making things faster.
Human Needs in an Age of AI
To know our needs is critical. Students, teachers, schools, businesses, and all society at large. In an Education Week article titled, “Rising Use of AI in Schools Comes With Big Downsides for Students,” AI is reported to have a negative impact on student to teacher relationships and peer-to-peer connections. Furthermore, the authors cite a report by the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology in which “seventy percent of teachers worry that AI weakens critical thinking and research skills.” AI is and will only continue to have an enormous impact on how we are learning. And yes, we, similar to all species, need to adapt. Yet, our human needs are far more stable. Thus, knowing our needs is critical. So, what exactly is it that we need?
1. Connection: Students need to feel seen, heard, and understood by real people.Funs Jacobs points to human connection as the answer of what will become more valuable when intelligence becomes a commodity? For more, see:Human connection will thrive in an AGI world
2. Belonging: Learning happens best in environments where students feel safe and included.Global Online Academy (GOA) serves students, teachers, and leaders and is comprised of member schools from around the world, including independent, international, charter, and public schools. For more about how they are addressing belonging, see: Belonging Beyond the Bell
3. Meaning: Students need learning to connect to their lives, experiences, and the real world.After more than two decades in the classroom, this is why I teach Capstone and Entrepreneurship. For Getting Smart, purpose means integrating content and skills outcomes with real-world problems and tasks that students find meaningful. For more, see:The Importance of Purpose-Based Learning in K-12 Education
4. Challenge: Growth requires struggle, thinking, and problem-solving. Process and not just answers.Gallup reported in 2024, “Less Than Half of Gen Z K-12 Students Say Their Coursework Challenges Them or Gives Them the Opportunity to Do What They Do Best.” For more, see: K-12 Schools Struggle to Engage Gen Z Students
Tis’ the season for grade 12 students to hear from universities on their admittance. The push into these schools is often IB curriculum and AP classes. This is not to be a slam of either curriculum, and yet both receive critiques of how pedagogy is often bent on an overemphasis on structure, compliance, and formulaic inquiry. For students and educators alike there may even be burnout. What runs the risk of getting lost is what truly matters most: knowing students as people, creating space for thinking, academic struggle and responding to the moment, rather than the “checklist.” Or, even the feeling that the ends could ever justify the means. The 5 on an AP exam, the college essay, or even an acceptance letter is hardly “an end.” And the means? Regardless of school or curriculum, many students are utilizing AI in responsible ways. Yet, shortcuts are common as students push towards a perceived illusory finish line. Automating their learning shortchanges them of the very purpose, learning. All the while, increasing the demand for “real” connection.
A Vote for Humanity
Some are predicting 2026 to be a year in which low-tech (maybe even no tech?) instruction will rebound. Balance is what I hope for. Absolutely, mastery of how to use AI is an essential skill for K12 grads and beyond. And yet so are seminars and oral defenses. Consciousness and intent are critical if we are to ensure that technology does not exceed our humanity. This nexus we are living amidst is exhilarating, inspiring, and frightful. It may even feel like a burden to bear. Yet, what may be our greatest fortune is that we have not crossed over yet. We still have a choice. Education that chooses humanity helps students connect, belong, find meaning, embrace challenge, and take ownership of their learning.
Make a vote for humanity. I am.
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Sharing stories, expertise, and experiences from international educators around the world. In the spirit of amplifying diverse voices. TIE's blog space is not subject to editorial oversight. TIE bloggers have a long history in various aspects of international education and share their thoughts and insights based on personal experiences.
