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Scalzo, Germán
Innovation as a practice: Why automation will not kill innovation
Educational Implications That Arise From Differing Models of Human Development and Their Repercussions on Social Innovation
2023
,
Redín, Dulce M.
,
Cabaleiro-Cerviño, Goretti
,
Rodriguez-Carreño, Ignacio
,
Scalzo, Germán
As a result of contemporary culture’s focus on continuous innovation and “change before you have to,” innovation has been identified with economic gains rather than with creating added value for society. At the same time, given current trends related to the automation of business models, workers seem all but destined to be replaced by machines in the labor market. In this context, we attempt to explore whether robots and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be able to innovate, and the extent to which said activity is exclusively inherent to human nature. Following the need for a more anthropological view of innovation, we make use of MacIntyrean categories to present innovation as a domain-relative practice with creativity and practical wisdom as its corresponding virtues. We explain why innovation can only be understood within a tradition as it implies participating in inquiry about the principle and end of practical life. We conclude that machines and “intelligent” devices do not have the capacity to innovate and they never will. They may replicate the human capacity for creativity, but they squarely lack the necessary conditions to be a locus of virtue or engage with a tradition. Copyright © 2023 Redín, Cabaleiro-Cerviño, Rodriguez-Carreño and Scalzo.
2019
,
Orón Semper, José Víctor
,
Akrivou, Kleio
,
Scalzo, Germán
Social innovation aims for creating social value primarily while it recognizes that not all technology-based progress amounts to social progress. We think that this calls for a paradigm shift in how we understand education. No one doubts that education requires intense cognitive effort, but educational proposals certainly vary depending on how cognition is understood. In this article, we suggest that different ways of understanding human development are related to different ways of understanding cognition. Thus, these different conceptions of human development affect their resulting educational proposal. While not an exhaustive account, we sketch out three models of human development, the so-called autonomous self (AS), processual self (PS), and inter-processual self (IPS). Each has different implications for education depending on their particular understanding of cognition. The AS and PS models understand cognition as a primarily rational mastery exercise, with the difference that PS uses relationships and diverse psychological faculties for the subject's cognitive development, whereas AS relies more on the subject's rational agency. On the other hand, IPS understands cognition as a relational act that, when it arises from interiority, affects all dimensions of the person. In the present article, we explore the educational consequences of these different ways of understanding cognition with the assistance of interdisciplinary dialogue from philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience, and their repercussion on social innovation with the intention of opening up reflection in the field of education and of inspiring its practitioners to rethink the model they assume. We will conclude with reflections informing educational implications for the design of programs and teacher training itself. © Copyright © 2019 Orón Semper, Akrivou and Scalzo.