Intense academic debate has developed globally around the topic of the use of artificial intelli- gence technological tools (AI) in teaching-learning processes.

As citizens of the 21st century, we are constantly faced with technological changes that have profoundly modified our lifestyle. We use computers and telephones that communicate us with the world, advanced technologies and supplies for tasks at work and at home.There are AI programs that allow the writing of very well-prepared texts with a high level of complexity, where basic level students, as well as university students, can "do" written work such as: reports, essays, compositions, writings, transcriptions, letters, even poems, stories and novels. With minimal effort.

A couple of months ago I was strongly requested to write an important letter of recommendation for a young woman who needed it. It could not be a “cash” letter of two simple paragraphs, it had to be very convincing due to the nature of the position She was applying for.

I prepared to work for a while in the afternoon to get inspiration for writing; My daughter, seeing me sitting in front of the computer, asked the reason for my concentration and immediately said: -let's do it in Chat GPT-.

I gave her my chair and a few guides such as the name of the young woman, the position she was applying for, dates and some additional information.

In a few seconds the letter of recommendation was ready; impeccable, excellently written, convincing, delicate but with vigor, balanced and focused on the desired objective.

Due to the ease of creating texts with AI, a great debate is brewing in the world of acade- mia, since the fear of many teachers is that their students may cheat in the presentation of their reports, tasks and assigned work.

There are professors and teachers who claim that this tool atrophies the student's mind, reduces their ability to write, weakens their abilities to express ideas and encourages fraud in the presentation of their work.

The situation has extended to teachers of literature, languages, law, social sciences, sociology, psychology, even engineering and health sciences.

But 50 years ago, even before personal computers and smartphones existed, the same situation arose for mathematics teachers and students.

When I was a high school student in the 70s of the last century, I remember that a classmate arrived with a pocket calculator. He had it hidden because he knew it was something forbidden. It was very simple, later they called it a “chicken counter” because it only did the 4 basic operations.

For the mathematics teacher, that was sacrilege, something unbearable because in her way of seeing education it was a blasphemy against the ancient act of performing mathematical operations; The student would then lose the ability to carry out addition, subtraction, division and multiplication, at the risk of stagnating his brain, since the machine would prevent him from thinking.

The colleague went to the principal office with everything and his “calculator”, with disciplinary reprimand and prohibition included.

We already know what has happened in the world with the wonderful boost of the exact sciences, thanks to the use of calculators and quantum computers and the gigantic qualitative leap that has benefited Humanity with great technological developments.

Teachers and professors must be very creative and adjust their evaluation mechanisms to achieve pedagogical objectives.

Proactive teachers are implementing old educational strategies, such as asking the student to write by hand on a sheet of paper using a simple pencil.

Or carrying out discussions and analysis of topics verbally, to assess performance orally.

Even using the same AI tool to determine the level of similarity of a report with the work presented by the student, and thus establish the degree of copying or plagiarism.

A university History professor told me that she requests two written reports from students, one generated by AI and another written by the student in which must carry out a critical analysis of what the GPT Chat delivers.

Since artificial intelligence is supported with “everything” that is on the network, both serious and solid material as well as “garbage” of fake, erroneous and unscientific news.

In this way, she ensures that students carry out critical analyzes of the reviewed material and must present a list of all reliable bibliographical references on which they base their criteria.

After 40 years of teaching experience, I have realized that my job is not to police students who do not want to learn, nor to classify students according to their grades, but to maximize the learning process in those who do want to learn and try to inspire everyone in the search for their individual improvement; focused on strengthening the teaching-learning process with ancient and advanced tools.

I also understood that tools are not good or bad per se, but rather they must be used correctly to intelligently produce.

A machete is a tool that can be used in an evil way if it is in the hands of a psychopath, or an excellent work tool for producing food if it is in the hands of a farmer who tills the land.

Atomic energy can be destructive and cause great harm in the form of bombs and missiles, but in the right hands and minds it is a tool for good, curing cancer with its radiation and saving hundreds of thousands of lives.

Artificial intelligence is a new tool that must be at the service of everyone, and although its name says “intelligence”, that does not imply that it is in the human sense, nor that it is self-sufficient; It is just a powerful new technology, which must be handled proactively by all of us.Costa Rican educational authorities at all levels, both in public and private schools and universities, must make changes in pedagogical strategies with curricular flexibility, to creatively insert the use of these new technological tools in the classroom; also provide training to the teaching staff so that we adapt to the changing times.

Instead of being a technology for cheating and fraud, AI must generate development in the minds of our students, with critical analysis skills and deep abstract thinking so that their skills allow them to best fit into the world of work; that lead Costa Rica to make qualitative leaps in the training of professionals that the country requires.

PS: I wrote these ideas; they were not generated by AI.

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