Essential Learning By Doing

https://issuu.com/ukmpa/docs/the_pilot_magazine_issue_333_-_issuu

Welcome to Issue 333 and the latest edition of “The Pilot”.??

In this edition I concentrate on “The future”.?

Rather?ironically,?as the Editor,?I?am?not?one for?writing long pieces.??However, with?my third edition of our association magazine now under my belt,?I have?been reflecting.

As?a?boy I was a?truly?awful student; my mind?purely?focused on becoming a professional?windsurfer.?I did not study to learn how to windsurf in the academic sense - I taught myself and improved?by putting in the hours.?

I was not?academically?strong which has led me to being a firm believer in “learning by doing”.??I am keen to learn, research and seek counsel from experts in their field.?Throughout my life when opportunity has presented itself, I?have?always believed, whatever the challenge, I will?give it a good go whether it is an activity such as windsurfing, wakeboarding or most recently the Wyn Hoff cold water therapy.??I try and remember that, after all, FAIL, is only the?First?Attempt?In?Learning.

When those at the UKMPA asked me to take ownership of the magazine,?whilst immediately recognising it was not within my skill set, I was prepared to learn by doing.??As with Piloting, we learn by doing, supported by a vast amount of acquired knowledge.??It is my view that Piloting (ships or planes) cannot?be taught?in the classroom alone.??We must learn by doing.?

The?1987 Pilotage?Act refers to?a Pilot’s?authorisation?in?terms of time, experience and character.?

Time is usually months and then years to achieve the acts of pilotage required.??In general, this is the least period needed to gain the greatest exposure to the various seasons and elements.

Our experience is measured in the number of acts and incorporates a?variety of elements?to the?various?evolutions in Piloting.?Whilst not an exhaustive list it tends to include many?types of ship, manoeuvres, tide,?weather, different seasons, traffic, tugs, contingency and emergency.

As to character this is less easy to define.?Are you of “suitable” character to?be given?the warrant of public trust to protect the nation’s waterways and infrastructure from incident and pollution??Do you have the character to relieve the Ships’ Master and the Port of the inevitable commercial pressures to ensure that` ship and its cargo are safely brought to and from shore thus ensuring the waterways?are protected?and remain open to all

Academic?study?alone?would?not have prepared myself and my colleagues who were recently involved in the recent MOL Treasure incident.??What it did take was?60 years of combined maritime knowledge and experience, supported by?experience from various essential collaborative operators, Tugs, VTS and port management, all of?which, I would suggest have?probably?learnt more by doing than by academic study alone.??

The?theme of the magazine is Piloting the future, and?recently there have been?significant?developments in the artificial intelligence world such as chatGPT and others.??ChatGPT has described itself as a “language processing AI model” meaning that it is a program able to understand human language as it?is spoken?and written, then to have the ability to construct the correct reply.?AI, I as I understand it, learns by doing.??

I ask therefore what separates us as humans from AI??Is it knowledge and experience buried in deep in our hippocampus (part of the brain which relates to our gut instinct), or put another way, our intuition, which can?be called?upon in greatest times of need.?“Trust your gut” they say; that deep seated learning by doing that sits there until required to recognise that all is not well, even if the information provided tells us differently.?

In conclusion, if AI and ChatGPT are that good, will they ever replace time, experience and character???If we stop learning by doing, will we lose our intuition, our gut feeling???And once knowledge and know how are lost, how will the programming of the AI work???How will unforeseen emergencies?be responded?to???There is much to learn still.??Let us make sure as Pilots that we never stop learning by doing and transferring that learning to the most appropriate recipients – our colleagues, those that aspire to be pilots and all parties that need knowledge to make better informed decisions.