“Los ordenadores son inútiles.

Solo pueden darnos respuestas.”

“Computers are useless. They can only give us answers.”

—Pablo Picasso, artista español (1881-1973)

Picasso died while the computer age was still in its infancy. He did not experience laptop computers, the internet, or artificial intelligence, but he got it about right.

As sophisticated as they may be, computers, and even A.I.,  cannot yet ask the best questions. They can merely give us answers. This quote is not an anti-technology saying. It is more of a warning to remember the importance of imagination, the most important part of our thought life.

Mere answers demonstrate the lowest form of thinking. Answers are often nothing more than recalling information. Citizens in our complex world need to understand issues well enough to formulate the kind of insightful questions that will lead to new and unexpected outcomes.

This quote is similar to that of another transformative 20th century thinker, Albert Einstein, who said, “Information is not knowledge.” I suspect that in our age we are confusing information and knowledge, to say nothing of wisdom, now more than ever.

The New Bloom’s Taxonomy describes several levels of thinking. The lowest level is remembering: memorization:

1) Remembering
2) Understanding
3) Applying
4) Analyzing
5) Evaluating
6) Designing

Sophisticated A.I. programs seem to be simulating design, but we still need to prepare learning experiences for students that get them to use all levels of thinking, as well as pushing them to use experience, context and wisdom in developing deep understanding of subjects.

Despite the advantages of modern electronic communication, we may be more stuck in the low-level memorization mode even more than in Picasso’s Day, back at the dawn of the computer age. Google can give you answers. But students do not need mere answers. We need to model, teach, train and expect students to use higher level thinking skills so that they can come up with good questions–and not just give us answers.