The calculator and artificial intelligence: resistance to scientific progress

Abstract

This essay reflects on the reception of two technological tools that have undergone both knowledge and the classroom: the electronic calculator and artificial intelligence. For previous generations, the calculator seemed to “think faster than we do”; for ours, artificial intelligence produces a similar effect. It is therefore unsurprising that, within the educational sphere, attempts have been made to keep these tools at the margins of cognitive processes. However, by excluding them, there is a risk of overlooking their potential to expand and reorganize our ways of comprehending the world.

Just as the calculator did not displace mathematics –but rather compelled it to reorient itself towards its abstract foundations rather than its mechanical procedures–, artificial intelligence, as long as it is integrated critically, does not replace human thought: it challenges and optimizes certain of its processes. This text compares the initial reception of the calculator with the current perception of artificial intelligence in the educational domain. The purpose is to reflect on the fears associated with the possible replacement of those who have traditionally served as custodians of knowledge by artificial intelligence, and to contrast these concerns with the opportunity to transform and enhance both the transmission and the generation of knowledge through this technology.