SAN DIEGO, Calif. — In a bold move to modernize America’s education system, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon (of self-made wrestling fortune) announced on stage at ASU+GSV a sweeping initiative to integrate “A1” into public schools. She was referring, interchangeably, to artificial intelligence and the popular steak sauce:
The moment was quickly clipped, shared, and pressed into a punchline. We laughed. We cringed. We validated the sneaking suspicion that our national policy is being crafted by the same people who call their grandchildren to reset their email passwords. But wait, does anyone have a handle on this stuff?
Schools, governments, workplaces, executives, and parents are all playing catch-up to a future that’s arriving faster than any of us expected. We’ve seen Senators fumble their way through tech hearings, stutter on basic digital literacy, or think blockchain is something you build with Lego. We’re grappling with institutional disillusionment: the feeling that the grown-ups in charge are driving blind. This gap is a symptom of drift in public life, where policies are out of step with the pace of innovation.
That gap is dangerous.
Trust, once lost, is hard to rebuild. In this moment, we’re laughing at a system that seems unable to keep pace with the world it’s meant to govern. But when we stop expecting leaders to be fluent in the tools of the future, we stop demanding competence. Yes, the pace of change is dizzying. But if we lose the will to try, we merely add noise to the orbit and build a culture of satellites: machines that circle around, reflect borrowed light, wait for instruction.
A society run by satellites can’t chart new constellations.
If America wants a shot at building a fairer, more equitable future for everyone, we need the humility to admit when we don’t know and learn anyway. We can’t afford to be governed by people who are outpaced by the very forces they’re supposed to manage. The future won’t wait. Neither should our expectations.
