FROM STONE TO SILICON: THE HISTORICAL AND CONCEPTUAL EVOLUTION OF TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

This article aims to critically analyze the historical and conceptual evolution of technology, from the first stone tools to current artificial intelligence systems, highlighting its social, economic, cultural, and educational implications. The study adopts a qualitative, theoretical-reflective approach, based on a critical literature review, drawing on contributions from authors such as Acevedo and Veraszto (2009), Rodrigues et al. (2001), and Lévy (2010), in order to problematize technology beyond its merely instrumental dimension. The analytical path contemplates relevant historical milestones, such as the Neolithic Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the digital age, articulating them with transformations in forms of social organization and educational processes. Furthermore, the article discusses the contemporary impacts of platform capitalism and algorithmic mediation, in light of the reflections of Srnicek (2017), Zuboff (2020), and Diniz and França (2023), especially in the field of education. It is concluded that technology must be understood as a historically, socially, and culturally situated phenomenon, endowed with multiple meanings, whose critical appropriation is fundamental to facing the ethical, pedagogical, and political challenges imposed by contemporary digital society.