I felt she liked me

We learn on-line. Consume digital content. Talk to AI-bots. Quite impersonal. And, as social beings, we probably miss an important component. The feeling of someone taking care of us, liking us as a person, truly willing that we succeed.

Born in my hometown and a long-term missionary on the island of Madagascar, Janez Krmelj, recently talked about the schools he keeps establishing in Africa. He brought up the memories of his own early school days at home, in my hometown, in elementary school which was set in an old castle and has long ago been replaced with a modern school building. The area around where we live is very hilly and remote – so Janez had to walk from his farmhouse home to school for 6,5 kilometers (4 miles) one way. No buses then. It was hard for him, in summer and winter, in good and bad weather, leaving home in the morning darkness, sometimes returning at night (there were two shifts in the school at the time). But, despite all that, he “liked to go to school, since he felt the teacher liked him.” I know the feeling, too, although my walk to school was only half of the distance that Janez had to walk.

We, too, had a very kind teacher, and I felt that she really wanted us to succeed, to learn, to grow, to feel well. She was constructive, yet strict, she was kind, yet kept the professional distance. A true teacher you remember for an entire life.?

Now fast forward to today`s world. Let me only focus on the adult education. With less and less human connections, probably the feeling of “being liked”, or better – feeling the true empathic support from a real person – is almost gone.

Can new generations still experience an enthusiastic instructor spending the whole day with them, going extra mile, taking care for any single student in the classroom?

And even probably spending a dinner with them. I remember numerous dinners as an instructor, talking to my students in the late evening hours. It was truly hard for me, five-day courses, eight AM to five-six PM at minimum, and it would have been much easier for me to skip those dinners. Yet, I went to dine with my students and always made sure that my students benefited from what I had told them, even though our discussions were not always directly related to the topic I was teaching during the day. They maybe just learned some life skills in those evenings. Maybe figured out something about their future holidays. Always I wanted them to be better after spending time with me.

Speaking about talking and learning from one another: Who can help you better? A live (competent) instructor or an impersonal bot? Or at least, which feeling is better? All in all, even with the bots, the true experience comes with a human being. Since only the human being can like you. Here I like the saying of Debbie Richards who - at the recent conference – was giving away badges which you see in the picture (Human-AI-Human). Yes, it starts and ends with a human, whichever tool you use in-between to achieve your goals. So, ask yourself:

• Can e-learning like me? Do I need a mentor in addition to the tool?
• Can AI-generated (and non-edited) content sound like a human? Do I need a person to add some value?

And bring that human back. As a part of a system that uses these tools (like AI) and makes them human.

PS: Even if you are not learning, is your experience, for example at self-checkout in the store, the same as when a person does it for you? Is your experience at the kiosk for checking-in for your flight the same as with a person at the counter?