To think Religious education in schools should be replaced by AI education

[IsitRainin]

Looking at how quickly AI is advancing, our education system needs to be overhauled.
There's no benefit of subjects like Religious education in today's world and people can learn about it from their family. This should be replaced by AI studies and other STEM subjects which will prepare the Children to be ready and up to date with future advancement and at par with children from China, USA and rest of the world.

@IsitRainin - how much do you actually know about AI? It’s an easy couple of letters to fling around but do you actually know and understand it as a subject? Know and understand the impact on the environment? Know how it will be used in different industries in the future?

“There's no benefit of subjects like Religious education in today's world and people can learn about it from their family.”

Anyone wanting to understand western history, literature and art needs a baseline knowledge of Judaism and Christianity.

Here’s what I’ve been teaching recently :
Pros And cons of the death penalty
The speciesism argument and animal rights
The ethics of abortion (using the horrifying state of the USA as an example)
Changes to the law on assisted dying
Is Britain a Christian country ?(looking at the 2021 census)
The Anthony Walker case and forgiveness
Human rights - looked at Malala, MLK and Rosa parks

And I’m an atheist by the way, many of us are. I found that teaching and learning about religion often turned people against it - again look at the USA for the opposite

While we are busy discussing Religion, countries like China have built some of the most efficient LLM models like Deep seek.
If you don't have any place in AI race, you don't have any say in AI as a country and that's where we are right now as a country.

Sorry.. just realised we are talking about Absolute Ignorance, not Artificial Intelligence. My bad.

Yes, I work in the field of AI.

Which field?

Not 'mostly atheist' actually. Only 37.2% of the UK population identified as no religion in the last census.

As a parent you can teach your child what you want.
Replacing RE would free up an hour or so a week, as a concerned parent you must have that time to teach your child AI.

Maths/further maths is what you need the basics of for AI, which schools already teach, so if that is the career you have chosen for your child(ren) they need very good GCSE maths grades, followed by top grades maths, science grades A’levels

Then they can follow a university degree leading to skills required to pursue a career in AI.

No need to suggest schools remove subjects for a balanced curriculum up to age 16, the subjects needed for your preferences are already there.

Anything extra you desire you can fill in the gaps because you have as much access to information as the teachers do, nothing stopping you.

Religious education doesn’t shove religion down anyone’s throats. It teaches children about their friends and neighbours and others around the world, what they believe, why they believe it, how it impacts their daily lives and the choices they make. It also teaches them about world history, geography and key literature. It couldn’t be more relevant. AI is something that is evolving so rapidly that anything school curriculum would be irrelevant before it’s even turned into a series of lessons.

By that metric, you’d have kids working rather than going to school.
You are being naive to think that politicians can design yet another change to the curriculum that will be relevant today and not overtaken by AI changes in the blink of an eye.
I think that RE shouldn’t be in primary schools and could be replaced by something more relevant like a current affairs class so they know the basics like who Keir Starmer is or how we don’t vote for a PM (a common mistake on social media)

There are Americans denying Anne Frank existed , ffs op.
If you work in AI are you and all your colleagues desperate to leave to become teachers ?

Good idea OP. Let's also get rid of history, music, art and English literature. None of those subjects turn our kids into productive wage slaves either. Perish the thought that we might actually wish to give our children information and tools that could enable them to think about, and understand the world around them a bit better.

Philosophy and religious studies are arguably the most important subjects a person could study.

The nature of man and of god and the soul are the most fundamental considerations we should have as humans. Otherwise, what separates us from the animals?

Otherwise, aren't we just a bunch of pen pushing yes men who survive but, don't truly live?

I believe there should be more emphasis on philosophical subjects. Religious education included. It might help our children become more considerate, empathetic individuals who can think outside of the box.

We should be challenging young minds with philosophy and scripture, with art and music. Creating people who have critical thinking skills and can debate.

Teaching them practical skills for the modern world is so, so important. But so is education on how to grow and nourish their souls. To be, not just to exist.

RE teaches many skills, including textual analysis, critical thinking, debating and empathy.

@IsitRainin the vast majority of RE taught in schools (not hours and hours of it - it's actually a small part of the timetable) is just facts.
Facts that some people believe this, some people believe that.
It's FACTS.
Do you also disagree with scientific facts being taught, historical facts, mathematical facts, geographic facts...

Do you think other nations don’t teach religion or ethics?
I really don’t understand why you’ve decided RE specifically is what needs to go, in order for children to learn about AI (which they currently do, by the way. I teach secondary English and was discussing AI with my Year 9 class today - more from an ethical perspective, but it’s something that students are very much aware of).
Also, while schools do need to prepare young people for the workforce, it’s also our job to ensure that they grow up as fully rounded, decent human beings. There’s more to life than being a worker drone.

I'm atheist but loved RE at school. I find learning about religion really interesting. This stuff could just be part of ICT

It’s really not. The curriculum is years behind what’s actually needed in terms of computing and computer science. It’s also not compulsory from age 14.

I was talking about finance which is statutory at KS3 and 4

Also OP, you say you work in the field of AI. Did you learn about it in school?

(My guess is no - so you clearly learnt some transferable skills in other subjects, which is exactly what’s happening with current young people! Your lack of AI education hasn’t prevented you from pursuing it as a career.)

Oh that a good point
@IsitRainin
yes become an AI teacher - it’s what we need isn’t it?
or is it up to other people to teach your child what you want your child to be taught?

So, not only are you ignorant about religious education, you’re also ignorant about education in general. Education is not about providing worker drones. It should be far more rounded than that.

Someone who has studied religions is probably a far more rounded person that someone who doesn’t. And rounded people are usually far more useful in myriad ways.

You don’t need a GCSE or A-level in Computer Science to study it at university and beyond.

School curriculums can’t rapidly change every year from a practical and cost point of view but by age 14, I’d expect an interested child to be learning more current material from the Internet and teaching themselves anyway.

Is that you HAL?