A Social-Cultural Theory of Computation and AI

François Chollet’s piece here is a computational equivelant of the educational theory of Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934). The core educational theory of Lev Vygotsky is found in his distinction between lower (perception, memory etc.) and higher (culturally mediated) mental processes. It is a growing field of thought. (Social-cultural, Community of Practice, Apprenticeship in Thinking and a form of Social Constructivism best represented by Jerome Bruner).

Frames of thought, as mental tools, are important to understand and build a field and François’ frame here is likely important for computational progress. But here is an even more important point; it is even more needed in education. Too many educational processes are still rooted in a standardized paradigm, historically linked to Edward Thorndike’s ideas, that recreate the same problems as the psychometric IQ approach layed out by François. (That is, the same psychometric style of measuring the psychological construct of IQ is also found in standardized measures of educational constructs) The same reason the frame of IQ doesn’t work for Artificial Intelligence is also the reason it is a poor choice for designing education. It does not well represent human intelligence or human capabilities.