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President Isiaah Crawford is a big reader. He and I decided to start a book club to share his thoughts on relevant topics with Arches readers. For our first chat, we discussed Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, which considers how colleges and universities can prepare students for their professional lives when machines are taking over professions. To “robot-proof” students’ futures, the author, Northeastern University President Joseph E. Aoun, proposes a new discipline, humanics, including data literacy, technological literacy, and human literacy.

SC: Before reading the book, was robot-proofing higher education something you’d thought a lot about?
IC: Over the last number of years, it has become a focal point of consideration. President Aoun was the keynote speaker at a conference that I attended, and I was mesmerized by what he had to say. He was actually arguing that institutions such as his—larger, research-oriented, flagship state colleges and universities—need to become more liberal-artsy in their focus.

SC: That was my takeaway. The concept of “human literacy,” which encompasses the humanities, communication, and design, is resonant with a liberal arts education. Are we already doing this well?
IC: That’s our sweet spot. We’re looking to educate the whole person, so we’re focused on our student's academic, intellectual, and social development and providing them with opportunities to apply what they’re learning in real-world situations to foster their adaptability and cognitive flexibility.

SC: Where do you see opportunities to prepare our students for advances in AI better?
IC: We need to be more intentional about making sure our students have the technological and digital literacy to go along with their human literacy, so that’s where our focus has been in terms of curricular and co-curricular exploration.

SC: Aoun argues that human literacy is essential for making ethical choices. I’ve wondered if humans are really guiding us to a more equal and just society or if robots would do a better job at it.
IC: We will go down the drain if we don’t continue to focus on making sure our young people have a good ethical and moral compass. That’s part of the humanistic approach of the liberal arts—looking at the inner life as well as one’s position in the world and the inherent value that we ascribe to others. Whenever I interact with our students, I feel hopeful about the future.

SC: What made me hopeful was reading about creativity and entrepreneurship as the key to robot-proofing our students’ futures because Loggers are already so adept at this. Can creative thinking save us from robots?
IC: I think the more we can foster our students' entrepreneurial and creative spirit, the better. Those individuals who can create their own paths are going to be the most successful. They’re going to be visionary leaders who create the jobs of the future.

SC: Speaking of success, what does that mean to you?
IC: I think what we want for our students is that they’re happy, they feel fulfilled, and they’re making a contribution to the world. Often, people don’t stick to one professional field throughout their lives. When that’s disrupted, they’re kind of at a loss. When disruption occurs, they can pivot; they can re-create themselves and do the next thing. They’re lifelong learners, and they’re not afraid of the future. They’re ready for whatever comes their way.