By 2050, students will download knowledge directly into their brains from AI tutors, with no human teacher present – and receive lessons tailored to their DNA, a futurist has predicted.

Virtual reality will be the main mode of learning for many subjects, and the most important subject students will learn will be how to work as a ‘co-bot’ alongside artificial intelligence, said Tracey Follows, a futurist who has worked with clients including Google, Virgin and Telefonica.

Follows, who is listed as one of the top female futurists worldwide in Forbes, said that even classrooms might be a thing of the past as students ‘self teach’ with the help of AI ‘tutors’.

Follows produced a white paper on the subject in collaboration with online tutoring service GoStudent, and said that while her predictions may seem out there, they are ‘not science fiction’.

She told DailyMail.com that AI ‘teachers’ will allow students ‘a new perspective that we can merge with our own human perspectives’.

She predicts that new subjects such as interstellar studies and biotech will become popular as humanity moves towards becoming an interplanetary species.

The main subject will be how to work alongside AI

The number-one skill taught to students in the future will be how to work alongside AI as a sort of ‘co-bot’, said Follows.

She said, ‘I think the biggest skill will be working alongside AI, how to interact with AI, how to get out of the AI what you want and how to take on board, what recommendations AI might be making to you.

‘Collaborative working with machines is going to be the number one skill. It’s very underestimated right now because people think they know how to do it, but actually they don’t.

Lessons delivered directly into pupils’ brains

By 2050, students could learn simply by being ‘plugged in’ to a computing device, said Follows.

She said, ‘The work that’s going on with the brain computer interface at the moment is much more advanced than the public realise.

‘In China, you’ve already got neurotechnology that reads brainwave data, embedded into the caps of, you know, miners, construction workers, train drivers, etc.

‘I’ve spoken to the founders of lots of companies who are creating this technology and they believe that it will be embedded into everything from our headphones to our cycling helmets, to some of the systems that we might be using.

‘Why wouldn’t it be used in the classroom or outside the classroom?’

Lessons will be personalised to pupils’ DNA

By 2050, parents might be able to have their children’s DNA tested to find out if they are better at some subjects – and receive a personalised lesson plan based on that.

Governments might step in to force children to do the subjects they are ‘born to be good at’, Follows believes.

By 2050, our understanding of genetics will be such that pupils may be able to have lessons personalised to their DNA.

‘If you find out that your child has got a genetic predisposition to something, then potentially you might say, well, actually, then we want to start to build an education plan around that.

‘Or the state might step in and say we want the most productive, most economically strong workforce – and if they understand what skills the child has a propensity for, to at least try and work one of those into your personalised curriculum.’

Virtual reality will be the main mode of learning 

Many lessons will be delivered in virtual reality, from lessons about the dinosaurs to going inside human bodies for anatomy lessons, said Follows.

For some subjects, VR will be the primary mode of learning, she believes.

Follows pointed out that VR is already used to train nurses and paramedics – and by 2050, children will expect to be taught in virtual worlds.

She said, ‘We have a generation of children growing up, who are already learning lots of things, in different environments through virtual gaming and virtual worlds.

‘When they suddenly go to school or they want to learn subjects or new skills. They’ll be taking that with them. So there will be an expectation on a generation that they will learn in simulated virtual worlds.

AI teachers – and no classrooms

The school of the future may not have physical classrooms, with pupils opting to ‘self-teach’ with the help of personalised AI tutors, Follows believes.

She said, ‘We see it through you know, people listening to podcasts, we see it through people watching How to videos on YouTube.

‘In ten or 20 years we’ll be using personalised AI to to learn the person or the subjects that we are most interested in, or that can most advance us in our chosen area of interest or, or work or whatever.

‘So why would one need to be in a physical classroom? These digital technologies, decentralise everything – so actually education in the future will be seen as much more of an activity that is networked than a physical place.’

British Gas owner Centrica predicts ‘significantly higher’ profits from household energy business

• Centrica told investors the opening five months of 2023 were ‘strong overall’ 
• Its anticipates full-year adjusted EPS will be towards the top end of forecasts
• CEO Chris O’Shea’s proposed £4.5m pay packet has been heavily criticised

By Harry Wise For This Is Money

Updated: 09:00 EDT, 13 June 2023

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

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Former GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan has said he believe Donald Trump will not secure the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, predicting the party’s voters will realize he has little chance in the general election.

Ryan, whose disdain of Trump is longstanding and well-documented, made the remarks on Thursday in an ‘Insight Series’ interview for Teneo, the consultancy where he is vice chairman. 

‘Whether he runs or not, I don’t really know if it matters,’ Ryan said of Trump, who has teased his likely presidential bid for months. ‘He’s not going to be the nominee, I don’t think.’ 

‘I think Trump’s un-electability will be palpable by then,’ Ryan said of the 2024 primary elections. 

‘We all know he will lose, or let me put it this way: we all know he’s much more likely to lose the White House than anybody else running for president on our side of the aisle. So why would we want to go with that?’

Ryan argued that Trump has only maintained his considerable influence in the Republican Party ‘because everybody’s afraid of him.’ 

‘They’re afraid of him going after them, hurting their own ambition. But as soon as you get the herd mentality going, it’s unstoppable,’ Ryan said. 

Ryan, who ran for vice president on Mitt Romney’s unsuccessful 2012 ticket, has been a persistent critic of Trump, though he reluctantly endorsed Trump’s 2016 candidacy after he received the Republican nomination.

Trump slammed Ryan as ‘disloyal’ in the closing weeks of the 2016 election, after Ryan disavowed his candidacy after a video surfaced from 2005 depicting Trump bragging about groping women. 

However, for the first half of Trump’s presidency, Ryan led the House GOP majority and had a tenuous working relationship with Trump, working with him to pass major tax cuts. 

Ryan declined to seek reelection to Congress in 2018, when Republicans lost their House majority. 

In the interview this week, Ryan predicted that the field for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination would be crowded — but said that candidates will be reluctant to be the first to announce.

‘I think people will delay their decisions, and they’ll wait for somebody else to take the first plunge to take the ire of Trump, to have him go after that person and try and hurt them with MAGA voters, so then they can follow behind,’ Ryan said.

‘But the person who gets in the race earlier can organize earlier, can sign up supporters earlier, can sign up donors earlier, can get a better jump on it, so it really is a total prisoner’s dilemma,’ he added.

‘There’s a handful of people that are going to run, because it’s the only cycle they can run in. They can’t wait until 2028,’ said Ryan. ‘They’ve got to go now, if they’re ever going to go. And they don’t want to die without ever trying.’

Aside from Trump, Republicans viewed as likely candidates in 2024 include governors Ron DeSantis of Florida, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, and Larry Hogan of Maryland. 

Former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are also seen as likely to pursue the nomination.

After former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard publicly quit the Democratic Party this week, some oddsmakers placed her as the third likeliest GOP presidential nominee, after Trump and DeSantis.

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is also thought to be eyeing a bid. 

In his remarks on Thursday, Ryan also predicted that Republicans will regain control of the House, saying the future of the Senate remains less clear.

He also said that the size of the Republican House majority will depend on swing voters in the suburbs, who dislike Trump but are concerned about the direction of the economy under Democrats.

Ryan predicted that if voters are focused more on the economy in the final weeks before the November 8 election, Republicans will make stronger gains. 

‘Right now, the polling is showing that it’s more about economics, which is why the Democrats are going to do everything they can to make it about Trump,’ he said.

‘He is the Democrats’ weapon against us, he’s the cudgel against us, especially in our swing districts,’ said Ryan.

‘So the question is, is he in the news, in the know, in front of our faces on TV, ten, five, two days out, or not?’