Future Focus | Week of Feb 9 | Move 37: The AI Turning Point That Changes Work, School, and Human Purpose

Future Focus | Week of Feb 9 | Move 37: The AI Turning Point That Changes Work, School, and Human Purpose

From Designing Schools by Dr. Sabba Quidwai

February 16, 2026 · 41 min

About this episode

This episode discusses the transformative impact of AI on work and education, emphasizing the need for intentional design in the future.

This week feels like a turning point. From AI models helping build themselves to groundbreaking research on metacognition in schools and adaptive capacity in the workforce, the message is clear: AI isn’t just changing tasks, it’s reshaping purpose. The real question isn’t whether AI will disrupt work and learning, but whether we will intentionally design the future alongside it. Timestamps [00:00] – Move 37 & The Honest Version of AI The story of AlphaGo’s legendary “Move 37” sets the stage for Matt Schumer’s viral article explaining how far AI has truly advanced—and why most people underestimate it. [00:17] – Teaching Kids to Think (Nord Anglia + Boston College Study) A two-year global study shows significant growth in critical thinking, curiosity, and compassion when students are explicitly taught metacognition through visible thinking routines. [00:27] – Who Can Actually Adapt? (Brookings Study) 6.1 million U.S. workers face high AI exposure and low adaptive capacity—86% of them women—raising deeper concerns about equity, identity, and intentional workforce design. [00:32] – When AI Makes Work Harder (Harvard Business Review) Research reveals that enthusiastic AI adoption…

Topics covered

  • AI
  • metacognition
  • education
  • workforce
  • adaptive capacity

Keywords

  • Move 37
  • critical thinking
  • curiosity
  • compassion
  • equity
  • identity

Mentioned in this episode

Products: AlphaGo, Move 37, Nord Anglia, Boston College, Brookings

Books & works: Move 37, Teaching Kids to Think, Designing Schools

Places: U.S., US

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