Humanising future: AI, education reform, forgotten power of history, aesthetics and ethics

As Sri Lanka debates sweeping reforms to its school education system, one question looms larger than any curriculum revision: what kind of future are we preparing our children for?

- BY SARATH S KODITHUWAKKU

In an era increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, we cannot answer this question simply by aligning education with today’s job market. We must instead anticipate a rapidly transforming economy, one in which many traditional jobs may disappear and where machines, not humans, become the main drivers of production and profit.

While Sri Lanka is rightly focusing on skills, employability, and STEM education, we risk training students for a world that may not exist unless we simultaneously confront a deeper economic truth: if machines do most of the work, who will earn, spend, and sustain the economy as consumers?

This is why we must talk seriously about humanisation policies: strategic interventions to ensure that human beings remain essential, valuable, and employed in the AI age. And we can draw inspiration from an unlikely source: workforce nationalisation policies in the Gulf region.

From Nationalisation to Humanisation: Strategic Lessons for an Automated Future

Several countries, especially in the Gulf region, have introduced workforce nationalisation policies to increase job opportunities for their citizens by setting minimum quotas in the private sector. Examples include Oman’s Omanization, Saudi Arabia’s Saudization, the UAE’s Emiratization, Bahrainisation in Bahrain, Kuwaitization in Kuwait, and Qatarisation in Qatar. These policies aim to reduce reliance on foreign labour and promote greater citizen participation in the economy.

Since the implementation of these policies, they have significantly increased national employment in various sectors. For instance, Omanisation has resulted in over 400,000 Omanis working in the private sector by 2025, while Saudisation and Emiratisation have also raised local employment rates.