Conrad Wolfram: We are teaching the “wrong” mathematics in the age of artificial intelligence

For at least 20 years We are learning the “wrong” mathematics.With actions and calculations that are very far from the real application of science in everyday life. The reason is simple: we act as if there are no computers or artificial intelligence. This was found by Conrad Wolframa British physicist, mathematician and technologist, and co-founder, CEO and chief strategy officer of the Wolfram Group, which supports… Modernizing the education system Through the use of new technologies.

Mr. Wolfram separates mathematics from, on the one hand, “in the real, outside world,” where calculations are done almost entirely by computers, and, on the other hand, School mathematics, where almost all calculations are done by students “manually”. He asserts: “No matter how good the teachers are, this lesson is wrong. We are moving in the wrong direction in the age of artificial intelligence.”

“We only have a small portion of the population with good knowledge of 'real' data science, computing and mathematics, while the rest don't know how to interact with it.”

According to Mr. Wolfram, who will be found in… Opera House On January 17 and 18 at the first edition of the MIT Technology Review “EmTech Europe” in Greece, this is a kind of modern and very dangerous “illiteracy”. He argues that we are witnessing a situation similar to the late eighteenth century, when only one class of society could read and write, while the rest of the population accepted every decision uncritically. Today, respectively, only a small percentage of the population has a good knowledge of “real” data science, computing and mathematics, while the rest do not know how to interact with them.

Mr. Wolfram is an example of this: “In a democracy, you have to tell people based on data and graphs who they are going to vote for, but the majority don't know how to check which analyst is making sense and who is not.” “So it's kind of like the time before we learned to write and read. Except now we're talking about computing. People can't understand the basis of the decisions they have to make.”

This is even more evident now that we seem to be entering the era of artificial intelligence (AI): “Mathematics teaching has been skewing reality for at least 20 years…But now that we have productive AI, all the lessons can become unstructured because the outside world is changing“, warns Mr. Wolfram, who is also involved in WolframAlpha, a search engine that covers a wide range of scientific answers.

How to reform the system and the new role of teachers

The first step in combining “real world” and school mathematics is to do so Create a tutorialWhich will assume the presence of computers and their inclusion in the lesson. According to Mr. Wolfram, this means huge changes primarily for students in the upper grades.

It is also required Changes in the evaluation method. “For everyone to agree on the result, very simple questions are asked. True or false. Yes or no. Answer with a number. However, the questions to which we are looking for answers in life are much more complex,” he emphasizes, adding that artificial intelligence can Helps score worthy tests with multiple correct answers.

“It is not necessary for teachers to be the bearers of all knowledge. It is enough that they can guide and supervise students properly so that they can realize their potential with the help of modern technologies. Teachers should be the CEO of the classroom.”

in this context, The role of teachers must change radically. According to Mr. Wolfram, teachers do not need to be the ones who hold all the knowledge, they just need to be able to properly guide and supervise students to reach their potential with the help of modern technologies. “I think they should be the CEOs of this class,” he says.

However, Mr. Wolfram reminds us that mathematics is much more than simple calculations. “Can you imagine a beautiful shape? This is a mathematical problem, even the people of ancient Athens thought about it,” he said, referring to the golden section in the Parthenon, which is said to provide an interesting aesthetic analogy. “The point is that mathematics is much more than simple operations.”

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