Interview 1: “The Child Who Doesn’t Dream of Jobs”
Location: The Emerald Education Dome, Portland
Interviewee: Kira, Age 9
When I asked Kira what she wanted to be when she grew up, she frowned as if I’d asked something nonsensical.
KIRA: “Why would I want to be something? I already am. I’m learning about coral reefs this week, and next week I’m going to help design a weather song.”
ME: “A weather song?”
KIRA: “Yeah! The AI listens to the sky and makes patterns. We help it make them prettier.”
In this bioregion, education isn’t about career paths, and it’s about connections. Children learn directly from ecological systems through guided AI interfaces. Kira’s holographic tutor, a strand of luminescent light that changes color with her emotion, floats nearby. She doesn’t see learning as preparation for adulthood; she sees it as participation in the world’s ongoing conversation. When I ask her what she thinks of the AI, she shrugs.
KIRA: “It’s not really a thing. It’s just… there. Like the sun.”