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09 However, while you are anchored in tradition, you have to look forward too. Though forward looking does not mean that you would forget everything that is of value. But, at the same time, you have to be tolerant to new ideas. And this is not an altogether unprecedented approach. It’s always been there. Even if you move back to the ancient Greeks and you read Socrates or Aristotle’s Republic, or even if you read your own religion and the great personalities in there, everyone talked about the value of being a good person. So, at the end of the day, what education does is that it enlightens you. It opens up your mind. So, when you study subjects as history, literature, etcetera, what effectively is that doing? It’s sensitizing you or making you sensitive human beings who can think critically and creatively. And that is what the real progression is. We, as human beings, are inherently students, and the objective of education across time and society has been the same: to make us a better version of ourselves. Q. Sir, nowadays, when we have AI (Artificial Intelligence) for creating anything and everything, what are the skills that you think are essential for every boy in Aitchison in particular, and in Pakistan in general, so to be successful in the modern world. A. Technology is a support. It can never be a replacement of human endeavor or knowledge or interaction. It is a supplement. It complements you. So, it can increase your productivity but it cannot replace you, because it can never have what you possess – wisdom, emotion, compassion. So, when you are interacting with a machine, you ask the machine a question and it pronounces an expression. But that connection, at the end of the day, is limited. On the other hand, when you talk to your friend or your teacher, it’s a much different experience. So, while technology is a great way to supplement your productivity, it’s a great opportunity too, but it can never ever substitute you, because of the fact that your nature has allowed you certain intelligence and emotionality which cannot be replaced. All these great values which we talked about – compassion, integrity, camaraderie – these are human virtues which are by design absent in technology, but they are truly worth something. Look at poetry, art, literature. Ask AI to create just a verse and it would kill the whole essence, because it’s not human emotion. So, when Picasso or Rembrandt or Leonardo drew those beautiful masterpieces or when Shelley or Byron wrote, that was a reflection of their own feelings. You cannot substitute that. So when you write an essay or a poem, it is actually you which is being written. Now, if you take the aid of technology to do that then that’s not you. Your objective should be a reflection of your personality and AI can’t do that. Q. A lot of us have to start building our portfolios from a very young age, because it’s a very tedious process to get admissions in foreign universities. Having had the opportunity to study abroad, what do you suggest us to do to get into these prestigious universities out there? A. Okay. Number one is to do what you really do best. If you pursue your interest, you’ll get into the right place. This goes automatically. If you’ll try to be something you’re not, you’ll be cheating yourself. So, just focus and try to read a lot. The habit of reading is very important. Try to acquire the ability to write, since reading and writing are crucial. And, whatever interests you, just follow that - whether that’s history or art or literature. There will come a time when you’ll be so passionate about that one thing, and you would then want to go to some university to pursue it further. And a university professor like me there would see the passion, the time and effort you’d have then invested in that thing, and so he would enroll you in that program or discipline. So, always do what you really want to do and give it your best. That is the only key to real success.