AI is accelerating at such a pace that the need to understand the emerging future is more important than ever. The traditional paradigm of education is giving way to a more dynamic, empowering model. If engaged and applied appropriately, AI doesn't diminish human potential; it illuminates our most distinctive capacities. With intentional instructional design, AI can liberate educators and students from rote information transfer to cultivating the quintessentially human skills that distinguish us: complex problem-solving, emotional intelligence, creative synthesis, and ethical reasoning. This isn't about competing with AI, but about engaging with AI through a "human-first" mindset as a powerful tool to amplify our unique human strengths, enabling learners to develop deeper, more meaningful capabilities that technology cannot replicate.

The shift in learning focus starts with textbooks that drive an outsized portion of the student experience with publishers increasingly using AI to enhance personalized learning, streamline content delivery, and provide real-time feedback for students and educators. In fact, they're already beginning to use AI to go beyond simple text-based content and assessments.

Prometric, the world's leading adaptive assessment company, recently purchased EdPower, a cloud-based solutions provider for the K-12 market. Prometric was recently acquired by the same private equity firm that owns Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt textbook publishers, which creates a formidable alignment of assets to leverage AI in new ways to amplify learning and dramatically alter the student experience. This program will combine the insights of AI thought leader, Todd McLees, and a panel of amazing leaders doing incredible things with AI at the outer horizon of learning. Together they will stretch our thinking and challenge us to elevate how we think about, engage, and use AI to benefit ourselves, our students, and our colleges.