Tek Taxonomy for Learning in the Age of AI

Why Do We Need a New Taxonomy?

Bloom's Taxonomy was groundbreaking when it was published in 1956. Its 2001 update further clarified educational skills and how they build upon one another. In the industrial age, memorization, the foundation of Bloom’s Taxonomy, was important because we didn't walk around with access to all the information ever known and published in our pocket. The internet and generative AI have changed that.

The complexity of our world requires creative thinkers and doers.

Learning in the Age of AI

The age of AI has changed the game of knowledge attainment and usage. Dr. Beth-Ann Tek, founder of Flourishing Associates, offers this new taxonomy to guide learning when individuals are being inundated with information, and discerning absolute as well as evolving truths is of the highest importance.

Like Bloom, using a taxonomy structure is important for presenting how each step builds upon the one before. The Tek Taxonomy includes seven steps.

Steps 1 & 2: Precursors to Information Access

In the Age of AI, access to the internet, including AI applications and platforms,  and the ability to read and comprehend are essential. Without access to the internet, information cannot be obtained. The information is out of reach without the ability to read and comprehend. According to DataReportal, as of January 2024, only 66% of the world's population has access to the Internet; only 84% of the world's population is literate. 

Though 97% of the U.S. population uses the internet, according to Statista, more than 20% of adult Americans are considered illiterate and 54% have literacy rates below a 6th-grade level according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. The Nation’s Report Card indicates that in 2024, 40% of 4th-grade students cannot read at the Nation’s Assessment of Educational Progress’s (NAEP) basic level.

Lack of access to the internet and illiteracy are significant barriers to information acquisition, discernment, application, and creation.

Steps 3 & 4: Finding Information and Vetting It

With access to and the ability to read, individuals can begin pursuing desired information. The internet contains an infinite amount of information on an infinite number of subjects. How does an individual find what they are looking for and know it is accurate and reliable?

There is no old-school Dewey Decimal classification on the internet. Its structure is amorphous. Individuals can enter keywords and phrases into their favorite search engine. Search engines return results from websites by continuously scanning the internet and indexing the pages they find. Today, people are more frequently abandoning the internet search in favor of AI apps and platforms to answer their questions.

However, it is on the individual to discern the information provided is accurate. This most closely represents early critical thinking skills. We must determine what is factual and separate it from opinions and misinformation. Further, individuals must be diligent against disinformation. Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. AI is doing its best to provide absolute truths, etc. However, with one chat with an AI app, you will see how quickly it will craft responses full of affirmation bias.

 Discerning facts from fiction requires knowledge of source and perspective. Who or what produced the information I am reading? What is their perspective? What do these aspects lead me to believe about the validity of the information? Disinformation is so proliferated that even the United Nations has taken a stand on its harmful effects.

Steps 5 & 6: Using Existing Information

Steps 5 and 6 require an individual to take the information they have obtained and use it. It is used to do something, communicate to others, and can be synthesized across information sources to summarize and draw conclusions beyond those of AI.

Here, the individual is using information in the service of application, communication, and/or to make a case about what is known. Beyond critical thinking lies our thoughts and feelings about the information we have taken in and how it will be used. Many consider this ability to be a form of emotional intelligence.

Being emotionally intelligent enables a person to understand the impact of emotions on decision-making; they can be objective and empathetic.  

Step 7: Creating What Doesn't Exist

Step 7 is the apex of the Tek taxonomy, as it was of Bloom. Not only can the individual use existing information to do, communicate, and judge, they can create something entirely new. 

In the face of AI, we are left to ponder what is truly human: creation. Creation is a skill that brings not only happiness to the creator but adds value when thoughtfully used (e.g., human-centered design thinking).

New ideas, concepts, services, and products come from the creativity inside each of us. As an educated society, we must provide the tools necessary to reach this level. We can use real-life experience and simulation to practice basic and higher levels of critical thinking (i.e., emotional intelligence) to create for ourselves and others.

According to Deloitte, "creativity and social intelligence in particular, are likely to be essential skills for most new jobs created between now and 2030.” Because these skills give humans a clear advantage over machines and AI, they also offer protection against developments in automation, making jobs future-proof."

A Call to Action

Flourishing Associates hopes that this taxonomy serves as a call to action for all who care about the future of our society. We must address the issues of equity and access with regard to internet availability and increase literacy across populations. Simultaneously, we must teach how to critically discern information from disinformation and misinformation. Increasingly, machine learning and AI will replace human doing, but humans will always be called upon to create.