Mumbai’s maverick filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has ignited a fierce debate on social media, slamming the traditional education system as obsolete in the age of artificial intelligence. In a bold X post, Varma declared that the rote-learning model—memorize, repeat, pass exams, and secure a job—is dead and buried.
He argues that when information was scarce and access slow, cramming made sense. Doctors memorized diseases, engineers formulas, and lawyers case laws. But today, AI scans millions of papers in seconds, outpacing any human brain. Medical students spend years mastering anatomy, only for AI to diagnose instantly. Engineers toil over calculus and circuits, while AI designs them flawlessly.
Varma questions the wisdom of pushing kids into decade-long medical courses—five years undergrad, two post-grad, and more for specialization—when AI handles diagnosis and robots perform surgery. ‘Why force children into courses that won’t guarantee jobs?’ he asks, blasting parents for sacrificing poor kids on the altar of outdated beliefs.
Parents and teachers, products of the old system, fear change, he says. Kids who question ‘Why memorize if AI can do it?’ get rebuked with ‘It’s in the syllabus’ or ‘Everyone else is doing it.’ Varma urges youth to rebel, ignore elders, and master AI instead.
The time has come to dismantle this failing system, warns Varma, or it will collapse on its own. Without thoughtful backups, chaos looms, but hard work in AI skills can save the next generation from misguided sacrifices. Youth might just revolt and forge their own path.