Critical Thinking, Curiosity and Clarity: The Real Skills We Need in an AI World
Saturday morning. I’ve a fresh coffee in one hand and I’m trying desperately not to think about AI. Because, y’know…weekend.
I look up and there’s an interview on the BBC’s Breakfast programme on what schools should be doing to adapt to world where AI is becoming increasingly widespread.
Bang. My ‘not thinking about AI at the weekend’ thing went right out of the window the moment a question was directed at the interviewee.
“So what are the skills we need to prepare young people with, in order that they can thrive with AI.”
Now, I’m not entirely sure who the educational expert was (I know, I’ve normally got a rigorous attention to detail but, y’know….weekend), but I couldn’t help thinking their response was misinformed.
“We’re actually going to need more traditional skills like maths.”
[cue cappuccino exiting my mouth via my nostrils]
Maths? MATHS?
Maybe if you’re in the sub 1% of the UK involved in developing and shipping AI models. But what about every other member of the workforce that’ll be working with AI day-in, day-out?
Vast amounts of development costs haven’t been sunk into Large Language Models only to have them locked down for use by only the numerically gifted: the clue’s in the name.
Because, as the models advance and become ever more nuanced and capable, it strikes me that ‘technical’ proficiency becomes less and less important for the casual business user.
Forget Maths: Can You Frame the Problem?
In the first couple of months of 2025, we’ve seen ‘vibe coding’ explode: the notion that agentic coding platforms can muster up convincing web applications (and the like) from a couple of well-written prompts. And that feels like a natural continuum of the rate of change we’ve seen since ChatGPT-3.5 first dropped at the end of 2022. You start with the baby steps of HTML versions of Pong, but over time, the complexity of what’s possible ratchets up. Considerably.
So if it’s not maths that we need to be cultivating in the next generation, what skills will we need to thrive in a world powered by AI?
It's Not About Knowing Stuff. It's About Knowing What to Ask + Why You're Asking
At this point in the article, you’ll be almost as pleased as I am to find out there are “three c’s” (classic consultant chat) to consider. Uncanny.
C1: Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is going to be, erm, critical if we’re to grasp the opportunity of working with AI models. To me, this is about fully understanding the business challenges we’re trying to fix. How well do we truly understand the problem, what’s the context, what does a great outcome look like?
C2: Curiosity
Curiosity: what needs to happen to address the challenge - and what are the tools that might help us? Remember when there were four TV channels in the UK, and four ‘go to’ business tools (gee, thanks Microsoft) we used in the office? Things were simpler. But things were boring, too. AI brings not just a myriad platforms to bear, but a myriad ways we might interface with these tools. Could vision, video, or voice input help us solve our challenge in a completely new way?
C3: Clarity
Let me make this clear. Success won’t be found hiding behind corporate bull and waffle. Key word thinking is out, as are unstructured brain dumps (context dumps, on the other hand…). If you want good results out of your models, clarity is your super skill. How well can you articulate the problem you’ve thought critically about, and how well can you describe the creative solution you’ve envisaged? Simple, really, but clarity doesn’t come easy…
To me, if we can find ways to really develop those skills in the younger generation, we’ll truly capitalise on the opportunities that AI is opening up for all of us.
Of course, if you do need help with your maths, speak to my dog, the AI Maths Tutor…
If you’re curious about AI, and need help exploring how to make it work for your business, why not talk to me about the training I provide through my programme, The AI Advantage, described as ‘the best workshop I’ve ever been on!’
I work with clients through whole-team workshops through to one-to-one c-suite coaching, designed to immerse you and your team in how to get the most of the tools, and how they can fit into your day-to-day operations.
Interested? Let’s have that chat, one-to-one.